Why Am I Here Again?
by icequeen76
Summary: Sequel to Cookie Pity. Gilbert is still not used to being in a new country despite his move to it some time ago. Then along comes a Canadian student who's in the same situation...
1. The Sad, Fateful Meeting

Title: Why Am I Here Again?

Pairings: Mostly Gilbertx Matthew, but there also some more of the more obvious pairings.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia,nor do I know any of the references here. There's a lot of weird things here, so try and discount that if possible.

Chapter 1: The Sad , Fatal Meeting.

Gilbert was just not having a good day.

Don't get me wrong. He loved his job, but the fact was, moving to a new country was very weird for him. Singapore was a hot country, with very humid weather. He preferred the colder climate of Germany. He missed dressing his brother up in Lederhosen and making him go to the mountains to yodel. If they were to do that in Singapore, it would be a very weird sight indeed. Besides, there weren't any mountains in Singapore. The tallest hill in that country was the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Which was, to be frank , when told to Singaporeans that they went there , especially to yodel, would result in huge laughter.

His brother seemed to have taken to the country like a duck would to water. Gilbert however, seemed to take to the country like the duck's brother would to economics.

He just wasn't as used to it as he was to Germany.

That was not to say he didn't make any friends here. Being of "awesome stature", with "awesome eyes", "awesome hair " and being "just plain awesome" , Gilbert did have friends. There was Roderich Edelstein, the History teacher at Hetalia International and his girlfriend and Gilbert's childhood friend, Elizaveta Hedavary, the Home Economics Teacher . Then there was that Spanish Teacher, Antonio Carriedo, who became friends with both Roderich and Gilbert when it was revealed that they all had relations to Feliciano Vargas ( Antonio adored him like a little brother, Roderich tutored him in math, though he taught history and Gilbert just thought of him as "almost as awesome as I am."). He hung out with Ludwig's classmates sometimes , so he was familiar with Arthur Kirkland, who came over often to have drinking contests, and Francis Bonnefoy, young playboy extraordinaire. He even was rather close to his boss, the Principal of Hetalia International, who often spent most of work talking about his two grandsons, Feliciano and Lovino.

Yet however, there was no one which Gilbert could talk to , like an equal , about life. His younger brother was close to him, yes, but somehow he just couldn't share all his problems and thoughts with him. Besides, Ludwig had enough craziness to deal with.

This was the vein in which Gilbert was thinking about when he entered school that fateful day.

As he was rushing in, hoping to get to his desk so that he could get started on his work, which he knew would somewhat be awesome, he had, in the most clichéd way possible that only occurs in really rather cheap and bad fan fiction, bumped into a smaller, somewhat softer being.

Stumbling, (which was , by Gilbert's list of awesomeness , a negative 300 on the list. I.e., " so not cool"), the silver haired man had then said, to the small pile on the floor. " Hey, watch where you're going, kid. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you if you were to be hurt by my awesome self."

The small pile on the floor sounded personally affronted as he said, "Well, we wouldn't want His Awesomeness to be hurt in anyway, would we?"

" Yeap, that's what I would say....Hey, was that just a snide remark?!"

" No, I just like lying on the floor and insulting the carpet. Please, do you mind helping me up?"

Gilbert smirked. Hm....the kid had spunk. Almost a lot like a certain younger brother of his.

" Oh no, I wouldn't want you to make friends with the carpet, I mean, that would require you to have your face on the floor 24/7 huh?" He said as he lifted the small pile up.

The small pile, which had a mop of blonde hair, got up, brushed himself off and said, looking at him straight in the eye, ' Thank you for your kind services, now have you seen my bear?"

Violet eyes, such a soft shade of it, glared back at him , its softness rather dampened by the effect a pair of glasses had over them. It was matched up with a silky mop of blonde hair, and , as he went around looking for his " bear" ( he did say "bear", right?) , a rather long strand of it bounced around, falling across his forehead in a spring like formation. Gilbert had to admit, the fact that the kid actually managed to reply back snappily just now despite his sweet looks meant that the kid was rather cool. Not up to his standards, of course, but well on his way.

" Erm, when you say "bear", you mean like the one which is right now wandering towards that table over there, glinting somewhat evilly towards that box of chocolates?" said a passing- by Roderich , who had overheard the conversation while walking towards the two , a piano score book in his hand.

And indeed , "the one which is right now wandering towards that table over there, glinting somewhat evilly towards that box of chocolates" was a giant white furry beast, somewhat cuddly, but still rather huge. Gilbert immediately thought back to what had happened, and realized that the softness he had felt must had been when he bumped into the bear being held in the kid's arms.

"Kukugachu! There you are!" said the young man, running towards the bear to grab it before it devoured the chocolates . Gilbert , who was reminded of that song from a certain band from the 60s about a song about a giant mammal who likes fish, recognized the irony of the situation. The bear, startled when he felt hands around his middle, looked around to find a young man who he had never seen before.

" Who are you?" said the bear, as it blankly stared at the young man who had grabbed him and stopped him from eating the chocolates. Gilbert, who ordinarily would have found it odd, instead found the bear's reaction, and the resulting reaction from the young man, rather interesting.

" I'm Canada, remember? The guy who feeds you." Said the young man, resigned to the fact that the bear couldn't remember his name.

" And I'm Gilbert the Great! You can remember that easily cause of the alliteration!" Gilbert added, a smirk developing on his face.

The bear's owner frowned slightly, as he said, " Uhhuh, and I Hope that I never really get to see you and your awesomeness again. Now can you perhaps direct me to the principal's assistant or something? I was told that he'd bring me around the school."

" Hahaha, you're looking at him, right now."

A slight pause . Then...

" HAHAHAHA, now you can't be serious! "

" You don't respect my awesomeness that much, do you?"Gilbert said.

" No, no, see I'm looking for Mr Bellischmidt, the guy who's assistant to the principal. You can't be that guy, you're so...."

"Charming? Eloquent? Awesomely handsome? Too hot for words?"

"Young."

" Hey, I happen to think I'm at least older than you by ....erm...how old are you anyway? Well, you're practically a teenager, so I think you can at least respect your elders a bit more."

At that point, Roderich, who had been standing by observing the scene carefully, said " wait, I know you, don't I? That kid in my history class..."

Gilbert, however, who knew who Roderich was talking about, said " No, I know Alfred, he's not this kid. Besides, Alfred doesn't own a giant white bear , or doesn't know who I am. And he said he's Canada."

" Ex-excuse me, but erm...you know my brother?" said " Canada" as he held the white bear trying to struggle out of his grasp." I'm supposed to be in the same class as him, I just transferred here today."

The older ones, stared at him. " Erm.....So you must ....Canada Jones!" said Roderich, as he went to shake the younger teen's hand. " Welcome to Hetalia International School! I'm one of the history teachers, and if you are Alfred's brother, you're also in my history class!"

The younger teenager stared back at them as though they were the weird ones." Erm, my name is Matthew, not Canada. And it's not Jones, but its Williams."

* * *

Matthew Williams, 18 year old teenager, owner of a white bear named " Kumajiro" which doesn't' t remember his name, and vice –versa, Canadian and proud of it, was rather troubled as he walked down the corridor after the silvered haired man , as he spoke about the different classes, the different teachers and how "awesome" his job was.

How did that silvered haired man do that?

Never in his life had anyone, that included his brother, Alfred, been able to render him to his snarky side within 10 seconds of meeting. In fact, this was the first time anyone had been able to get under his skin that quickly. His brother got that behaviour from him, but that was also due to the fact that Matthew had spent most of his life with him. Nobody, and I mean no one, ever got him to that behaviour within the first meeting.

When he thought about it, Matthew was a kind, rather sweet and shy kid who had a penchant for fuzzy animals, sweet cookies and maple syrup; who loved winter snow, cozying up to a warm fire, maple leaves and quaint old farm houses. He loved to laugh, loved reading, listening to music, playing hockey , playing on his Blackberry, and of course, he loved Canada. He wasn't too excited about the country he had just moved to, though.

Nothing about what had happened just now was in anyway similar to what he knew himself to be.

Yet, at the same time, the strangest feeling was overtaking him. A sense of giddiness, mind numbing feeling, which made him weak kneed and flushed. Heat was gathering at his cheeks and all over him, and he felt more alive than he'd ever had before.

This guy made him feel more like him, a him he can get along with better.

He thought about the circumstances which had led him to such a situation, why he had even come to Singapore to join his elder twin in school. The fact was , a few months before, Alfred and Matthew were twins living in different parts of North America, each having been taken custody by a different parent after a divorce. Alfred with his dad in Los Angeles, being exposed to the glitz , glamour and bright lights of Hollywood, more so as his father was a rather renowned director in the highest circles; and Matthew with his mother in Canada, his mother being a native Canadian herself. Both parents had a civil relationship, staying as friends despite the divorce, and the twins saw each other often. However, when Alfred's dad decided to relocate to Singapore to start a Media Academy there, Alfred was to move along with him and there was a request to send Matthew there as well. Their mother, having realised the potential of leaving the boys together as well as being exposed to a new world for Matthew, agreed to the plan, and so now Matthew had moved to Singapore to be with his brother.

Matthew sighed . The plan was a rather beneficial one. Matthew had considerably missed his brother and father and did want to see them more often. However, he had also missed their mother , and Canada too. His home in Ottawa was one which held many fond memories for Matthew, many which included the beauty of Canada, the weather and his friends. At least he was allowed to bring Kumajiro, despite the fact that both of them forgot each other frequently . ( The only reason how he even remembered the bear's name just now was due to the fact that he found Kumajiro's papers.)

Alfred had coped rather well with the move. When Matthew had asked him how he had felt about the plan during a Skype conversation, the young boy, whose face mirrored his own, showed an expression of disbelief. ' Sure, I miss my friends and America. But I mean, it's not as though we'll never go back! Besides, I've made really rather weird friends here. Remember that Francis kid we met in Canada when I came over for Christmas? He's here too! And there's this really funny guy called Arthur who I think is really irritated with me, and I think its gonna be fun irritating him to death! "

Matthew, who had registered what his brother just said, blinked. Was that slight glimmer of shine in Alfred's eyes a show of something more between the two boys? But he tried to ignore it, and said," Well, it seems fun. How's the weather there,eh?"

"The weather's like superbly hot! Remember those cold blizzards we used to have in Canada? I always hated those! Singapore's even hotter than Los Angeles, and there are a couple of good looking babes around here! You should go to Orchard Road, I'll think you'll like it, there's even two giant bookstores for you to read to death there!"Alfred said, grinning hugely, his face rather distorted from that hamburger he was always constantly eating. " Too bad the portions for burgers here are so small!" Matthew giggled, amused by his brother's obsession with burgers even though his heart was sinking slightly at the thought of hot and , from what he read, humid weather in Singapore. Sometimes he seriously wondered how was it so possible that Alfred and him were so different though they were twins.

Matthew then started thinking about the older man who was currently following/

That rather annoying voice. That had immediately gotten on his nerves the moment he heard it. It was so much like Alfred's , what with the constant talk of " awesomeness" . Yet the feeling that the man gave ….

Matthew decided that if he was going to keep on thinking about silvered haired men, he could also keep track of Kumajiro, who, now that he thought about it, was not in his arms anymore. He turned around to find the giant white bear shuffling down towards a classroom door , which seemed to be a cooking class. He had to run after the bear before he devoured the pasta on the table, the one nearest to the door.

"Ve~?" a lithe voice sounded out, as Kumajiro climbed onto the table, gleaming evilly over the pasta. Matthew had to grab the bear from the table before it started devouring the noodles.

" I'm so sorry!" said Matthew, as he dragged the struggling bear from the table.

" Ne? It's okay! Pasta is delicious , so your bear is a smart bear!"

Matthew thought that it was more likely that the bear ate everything regardless of how good it was, but decided not to mention it to the young brunette in front of him. A curious young brunette indeed, as he had a curl drooping of the side of his head, glorious golden brown eyes that were nearly concealed by eyelids and a very laidback countenance.

Matthew then smiled, then went out of the room.

Feliciano Vargas, wondering about the blonde wavy haired man that had just come in to collect the bear, shrugged and went back to making Fettuccine in Clam Sauce. The boy that looked a lot like Alfred was a funny one, but at least the bear was smart.

**Author's notes: Hello, and welcome to my new story of Why Am I Here Again? I know the title sounds a bit lame, but then I realized that for the two main characters, that is the question that both of them keep asking themseves throughout the story, whether if it's asking why they moved to that location to why they were in the situation in the first place. Somehow, after I said that out, the title sorta fitted the story. I love Gilbert x Matthew stories, and I feel that its a shame no one rites about them more. There's also an astonishing lack of them on possible, can someone draw more of them? I do wish to see more....Questions can be posted in my reviews, so do so if you have any questions!**

**No worries, the next chapter would definitely be longer! Review, if possible!**


	2. In which the characters learn more

Chapter 2: In which the two main characters learn more about each other.

Gilbert had to admit, the kid he just spent was one of the cooler ones he had just met. And if he was right, he was going to have fun with him from now on.

He was hanging out with Roderich , Antonio and Francis today in a sort of Boys Night Out. Well, it wasn't really Boys Night, considering the fact that they were at Roderich's condominium, the one he'd shared with his girlfriend, Elizaveta , and Elizaveta was there. While three out of the four guys weren't really that cranky about the idea, Gilbert was a bit disgruntled. How does someone not get the meaning of Boys Night ! Grumbling slightly, he got up from the table to grab a beer from the fridge. Elizaveta, who knew somewhat what Gilbert was thinking about, grinned at him from the dinner table, frying pan in hand, a victory sign on the other.

Gilbert , who knew that those who made hand gestures without any sound effects whatsoever were just plain lamers,( unlike him, cool, awesome, and much more snarkier than anyone else.) , smirked. Elizaveta, who was a childhood best friend of his, was great to irritate, and fun to scare, and he knew that her relationship with Roderich would be one which would last for a long while. Smiling slightly, he then turned to regard the two other participants of Boys Night.

Antonio Carriedo was a young , 25 year old Spanish teacher who had a certain charisma that unfortunately bordered on naivety and silliness. The man was close to Gilbert, having made friends with him on the first day of school. The best part was he too also lived nearby, living in the Vargas Residence as the Principal needed a sort of caretaker to look after the twins while he was at work. Antonio was the perfect candidate due to several reasons : 1) as a teenager, he had babysitted the Vargas twins along with Roderich , so he knew what they were like. 2) Antonio was rather good at bull fighting back in Spain, so would be able to take whatever troubles that came on to him head on easily and 3) Both Feliciano and Lovino liked Antonio, especially Lovino.

It was a win-win situation. Antonio loved the twins, and thus taking care of them was no chore and more of fulfilling his request in life, and he had Friday nights off, which meant that he could come over for Boys Night.

The French kid, Francis Bonnefoy was another story. To be frank, Gilbert didn't understand just how it was that he had managed to even make friends with the boy in the first place. Francis was younger than the rest of them, being 18 while the rest were at least 6 years older , and he was in Ludwig's class, making him Roderich's history student . However, the young man had a certain charm that managed to make him older beyond his youthfulness, and hung out with them often. Antonio liked him well enough, and Gilbert admitted, Francis was a funny individual. Thus , Francis was often invited out with the other three , and often when Roderich was not around, the three others were always hanging out, whether in each other's houses, or at CHIJMES, where there were nice bars and cafes around . It was great having them around, as it meant that all three of them went out drinking together and got up to much mischief.

If only that blonde boy he'd met this morning was there too.

* * *

Matthew was enjoying himself. Sort of.

While he would rather be curled up on the window seat in his house reading with Kumajiro curled up at his feet, the fact was, Alfred's friends were actually quite a funny bunch.

Firstly, there was Arthur Kirkland, a young British boy who had blonde hair, glowing green eyes which were offset by bushy eyebrows that resembled wings. While he wouldn't say that his features were considered god like, the combination of such features made his face rather warm and friendly. Not that he was overtly friendly when he shook hands with Matthew. In fact , he had been polite , and has asked if he was enjoying Singapore. But when Alfred had greeted Arthur with a friendly " Hey, haven't shaved those eyebrows yet?" the politeness had disappeared, replaced by a fire in his eyes that spoke " agitation because of the blonde boy in front of me" and went to call him " gitface". After watching a whole evening of such a show, Matthew was convinced that it was a daily ritual that had to be completed. Besides, he knew when Alfred liked someone, and Arthur had that gleam in his eye, that hinted of embarrassment, sweetness, amusement and exasperation all at the same only both of them could actually see that.

Then there was Ludwig Bellischimdt, who had a stern appearance to him, registered in his slicked back blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, black t –shirt with an iron cross pendant and neatly ironed jeans on top of black polished leather high tops. When Matthew, partly out of fear and embarrassment, mentioned the fact that his name was the same as the weird principal's assistant's , Ludwig had turned to look at him with an exasperated look on his face, saying" He didn't give you any trouble, did he? I apologize for my brother."

As Matthew reeled from the shocking revelation that there was a family connection between two totally different individuals, the brunette next to him giggled and said, " That's okay, everybody gets that reaction ."

Said Brunette was the same brunette whose pasta Kumajiro had tried to eat that afternoon, the Italian, who had introduced himself as Feliciano Vargas, who Alfred had said was one of the grandsons of the Principal of Hetalia. The young boy apparently bore no pride nor any boastfulness of the fact, saying that " Roma –ji Chan" was funny and always played hide and seek with them. The young boy had also evidently remembered him, as he looked at him closely and said, " I know you, the one with the very smart bear!"

" Yes, thank you for not pressing charges, Kumamoto likes to eat a lot, lord knows I feed him all the time...."

" Don't worry! Pasta is meant to be shared with everyone! Along with Gelato, pizza, cannoli...."As the boy rattled on, Matthew took in the boy's appearance. Warm auburn hair , with a touch of chocolate to it, and a curl that curled out from the right side. It framed golden brown eyes, which had dazed look on them, and he kept waving his hands out in a whirlwind fashion, occasionally toning down with a reminder from the stern boy next to him. The Italian did not seem affected by such, instead going off to hug Ludwig, earning a spluttering, red faced Ludwig trying to push him off as" there were people watching."

Kiku Honda was next, and to Matthew, he was the epitome of Japanese Culture. Quiet and shy, the young Japanese boy with the beautiful eyes had his eyes down and kept bowing to him whenever possible. Matthew realized that he was also very modest as a person, as when Matthew mentioned the wonders of Tokyo that he had seen when he was on a trip there, the young boy blushed and thanked him for such compliments, though it was unwarranted . Alfred had said before they went out that," You'll like old Honda, very quiet kid, just like you sometimes!"

The girl next to him, who laughed at Kiku, said, " Kiku, your country is a great country, and beautiful too, not compared to Singapore, of course. " Turning to face Matthew, the young girl offered a hand out, saying, " The name's Leona. Leona Lee."

Leona was not what Matthew had expected. When told that Leona Lee was born and raised in Singapore, Matthew who had read up on Singapore history as well as the biography of one of the fathers of the country, Lee Kuan Yew, had conjured up a picture of a young, Chinese girl who was highly quiet, played by the rules and was always in favour of the government. That however was not to be so with dear Leona. Firstly, she was a dark skinned girl , tiny considering her height and weight , childlike in looks , as she had almond eyes, a golden brown in colour. Alfred had explained that Leona was actually Eurasian, her father having been a Chinese – Indian mix , while her mother was a Malay-Eurasian. This explained the girl's exotic looks, her eyes, her glossy black hair and her way of moving her hands when she spoke..Secondly, considering her petite form, Matthew was surprised to find that she was capable of raising her voice whenever possible, as she had when she yelled as someone had grabbed her ass. The resulting two cracks from the guy's wrist when she had twisted it and when she had picked up a spiky, large green fruit (" The durian" , Alfred had said helpfully when Leona had thrown it.) and thrown at his head had Matthew slightly fearful of the girl's sudden change in mood, not helped when she got back to her chair and smiled angelically at Matthew. The girl was also a splendid orator, having engaged in Arthur on a few debates regarding government and policies in both UK and Singapore, which made Matthew dizzy for a bit as his head kept whipping left and right to watch both debaters fight their arguments out. It was generally agreed by all that Leona was a very smart kid, who had made informed viewpoints of situations in Singapore and all over the world, but due to various reasons aka her parents, was forced not to proclaim all of them out loud , instead having to resort to debating . It was also known that she and Arthur were known as the best speakers during the Inter School Debate Championships, having helped their school clinch a first in the " Debating Leagues"

Lastly was a young Hong Kong boy, by the name of Wong Xing Chi , but who went by the moniker of Donald Wong. Donald was a quiet kid, generally rather peaceful and content to watch the debate run, but also at times putting in his own view point. It was seen that Donald was a bit of a mad scientist, being one who experimented with explosives, especially those of firecrackers. He also spoke with a bit of a British accent, using some combination of Cantonese with British slang, which was a bit confusing for Matthew at times.

So , it was to Matthew one of the most diverse and craziest groups of people he had ever met, yet also the group which he thought were one of the funniest and friendliest groups .

If only that silver haired guy he'd met this morning was there too....

* * *

" How was class, Antonio?"

"Ai, my lessons would be more bueno if the young Lovino would be more receptive towards my lessons. All he does in my class is eat pizza, nap on the table and flirt with the girls around him. It is not conducive for lessons!"

" Hmph, I do admit the elder Vargas has a tendency to not concentrate on lessons when needed. Yet, I do see that he has been working harder in that subject than he has in my History class."

" Is that the reason why you kicked him to my class, Roderich?"

" Now, Antonio, I simply recognized the benefits of having Lovino understand the subtleties of learning the language of Spain to his wellbeing. After all, it is rather similar to Italian. He should be able to understand it easier."

" Heh, that means that he wanted less stress in his history class!'

" Gilbert!"

" Hey, Lovino Vargas is tres bien! I wish that he was in my classes, yet the young one never seems to be happy when I come to him explaining the wonders of amour!"

"No Risqué behaviour at the table, Francis. Anyway, I thought your latest conquest was that young Eurasian?"

" That young French-Chinese man? Sigh, he has gone off with that young girl that represented Miss World in this country."

"That kid is lucky . Hey, Specs, maybe if you dumped Crazy Bitch over there, you might be able to actually score some proper meat!"

" Let me just say that I do not, unlike you, view women as meat. Secondly, I do not take such irresponsible manners with women. Thirdly, I really don't understand how is it that you can refer to Eliza as Crazy Bitch. "

" Hey, we're good friends, she can survive as Crazy- erm I mean, Eliza is the most beautiful woman in the world and I do not wish to hurt her feelings anymore."

"That's right, Gilbert. Now, Roddy-kins, pass me back my frying pan."

'This is good stuff, Eliza! It has so many tomatoes!"

"Ah, Antonio! It is good that you at least appreciate good food, unlike some people who believe in a country that doesn't exist anymore!"

" Excuse me, Prussia is a cool country! And the fact that I was born there shows just how awesome I am. "

" Firstly, you were born in the eastern side of Germany. Secondly, Prussia was dissolved before you were born. Thirdly, the idea of a country being awesome just because you were born there is but a matter of opinion. One which can be considered a bit misguided ."

" Speaking of misguided, Roderich. How misguided can you can that you can't tell the difference between a kid from your own class and a kid from somewhere else! What happened today is just proof that you're not as observing as you think you are."

" Excuse me, I cannot be blamed if the kid is one which has a similar face to the American Kid. Alfred is a handful as it is in class. Of course I would remember him more ! That kid is not as memorable as he is."

" Let me prove that you are more misguided than you think you are. Antonio, remember when we stopped by your class today when you were in the middle of explaining to the class on how to defend yourself against fruit?"

" Gilbert, I believe you got that confused with a sketch from an old TV series."

" Whatever, remember? Okay, remember who did I come in with?"

" Ah, this I would remember! That kid was rather memorable!"

( sticks out tongue)

"See!"

" Alfred was cute when he came in with you today! Even that bear he was holding was so much more cuter than I remembered!"

"You're an idiot, Antonio."

" I do believe we are talking about Monsieur Williams, aren't we? I've met him before when I went over to Canada."

" Ah, finally, an enlightened being! Know anything about him, Francis?"

" Well, young monsieur Williams is Alfred's twin brother. They got separated after the divorce between their parents but see each other often during weekends and holidays. Alfred moved here recently cause his father-"

" Isn't his father the great Theodore Jones? "

" Oui, himself in the flesh! The father is going to start that new Media Academy that Singapore is building, so he moved here , along with Alfred, and arranged for Mathieu to come and live with them as well. Matthieu took a while to come, as he had some things to arrange in Canada."

" Wait, Canada?"

" Oui, the mother , who had custody of Mathieu , moved back to Canada after the divorce. Mathieu went with her , and changed his name to Williams, because he wanted to be close to his mother. "

" Explains the difference in surnames."

" Oh, the poor dear! Separated from his brother, the two boys almost never seeing each other, and now the two boys are now finally together to express their love for each other! This is almost a dream coming true!"

" Eliza, restrain yourself. This isn't one of your boy love things, and the boys are not incestuous towards each other."

" If only they were! Mathieu is ever so sweet towards his brother! Although that Alfred is one of the more annoying boys I have ever met, when you put him and his brother together, he becomes so protective over the younger Mathieu! Such like a wonderful story of love!"

" I really just wish that both of you won't taint my house with such thoughts about young boys."

" Oy, so what else about Matthew ?"

"That's all I really do know, of course. I must admit, Mathieu is one who can be strict when he wants to, especially with his brother. It took me awhile to see that he is actually a young, spunky kid. But then again, it takes awhile. Young Mathieu is shy and rather sweet too."

" Wait! So, Alfred changed his name to Matthew Williams! Ah, everything makes sense now!"

" Antonio. Lovino was right, you are an idiot."

" So anyway, how are the preparations for the retreat next week? Gilbert, I know you're supposed to be organising it, so don't tell me you have no idea what's going on."

" A retreat? Hm, a wonderful time to go and have fun with the mademoiselles, if there are many?"

" Ha ha, you wish, Francis. See, what happens is that every year, there would always be a student leadership camp where selected students, who have shown that they are most able to lead and to survive in the world, would be selected and would be thrown into a survivor like situation where the individual teams get separated, and would be thrown in the woods for at least a week to survive, plus as well complete a set of objectives for each team to win. The team that can complete their objectives as well as survive in the while for at least a week, wins."

" Mon dieu, Roderich! Such a horrible camp!"

" And yet the principal insists on doing it every year. It's a wonder why ."

"Have they chosen the teachers that would be going ?"

" The principal, naturally, is going. Says it would be fun to "train the young gladiators until they can stand up, fight lions and wear a crown of laurels on their heads, like Julius Caesar',-"

" Julius Caesar never fought lions, the last I heard."

" I go every year. Its tradition for me to get harassed by children every year while my beloved piano is at home."

"Kesese! You forgot about me!"

" Ah , yes. Gilbert, as the assistant to the principal, has to go. It's an Obligation thing."

"I know! The awesome survives every year!"

" ...Gilbert...who else is going?"

" Well, this year the principal just told me to pick anyone that was competent enough to go, so that means I picked you, she-male like creature, cause despite your ugliness, you still can naturally beat up anything that comes your way, so you can be useful in helping to supervise the kids. And Tomato Boy's matador history back in Spain would be helpful in this situation, so he's going."

" Why is it that every time someone wants to show my competence , they always talk about bull fighting?"

" Carriedo, you can't come up with witty replies, you love anything that's cute, you were with Gilbert here when he suggested going to candy mountain –"

" The pink unicorn's my favourite!"

"How you even managed a matador career for ten years is beyond me."

" Good looks and luck?"

"Besides, if you can handle the twins, you can handle anything!"

" ( Sigh) Si, si."

" So that's the basic five adults, Francis, besides the school nurse."

" School nurse? Katyusha sis? C'est bien!"

" Hey, don't try to do anything weird, I mean , we all know that the young Katyusha has huge..erm...tracts of land. Yet, remember, her brother happens to be Ivan Braginski. Who has a twin sister called Natalia."

"I remember her, charming little thing. But when I suggested that we step out for a bit to practice la amour, she took out a knife and said something about 'being one with Ivan' and the cutting of my genitals out if I did not place my hands in a more proper manner."

"Ah well, the Braginskis are a little scary, especially the younger two ones. Say, Gilbert, why do you have such a weird grin on your face since we started talking on who was to go for the trip?"

" Eh? No, just a little idea I have that I would be suggesting to the principal soon."

* * *

" So how do you find Hetalia, Matthew?"

" Well, it's very intimidating, of course, being in a new environment and all, and Hetalia's not what I was expecting, but I guess I can cope.

' Don't worry, We were like this when we first entered . Not Feliciano, of course, he practically grew up in the school, but we all thought it was strange when we first arrived. Hetalia's...not just any type of school."

" Arthur, speak for yourself, Hetalia's great! It's a very cool school!"

" Alfred, just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon does not mean your brother has it too, no matter how much of a twin you are."

" HAHA! That's what you think, Arthur, and by the way, you just stole that bit of Harry Potter! I read the whole series, so of course I would know! That's how awesome I am!"

" Alfred. You took 6 months to finish Deathly Hallows while the others took at most a week. That's not awesome, that's a bit too slow."

" That's what you think! The longer you take, the longer it means I take to savour the book! Besides I took 7 months, not 6."

" Ve~! I love Harry Potter! But I find the fact that they feature British food not very good. It's almost like your cooking, Arthur."

" Wha-WHAT! Hey, just because I can't cook pasta-"

" The point is , you can't make anything."

" I apologize, but I do agree with Alfred –san. With absolute no disrespect to you, of course."

" I hate you bunch of arseholes."

" Firstly, its asshole."

" Arsehole!"

"Asshole!"

" Arsehole!"

" While they argue , Matthew-san, please tell us how Canada is like."

" Yes, please do, I have relatives living in Canada, and they keep telling me to go there!"

" Okay, let's see. I lived in Ottawa, it's a great part of the country, very cold during winters , and there are so many mountains."

" Ah, a lot like Germany, then."

" There's a lot of French influence on many of the towns, and a lot of quaint old architecture, based also on French Architecture."

" Ah, I see. It is too bad that Francis san could not be here, he usually spends his Fridays with his other friends , some of the teachers in the school."

"Yeah, well, he's a pervert, so heck to him. Matthew, we have a lot of shop houses too, but it's very Chinese. Have you been around Singapore yet?"

" Alfred and my father have taken me around to the zoo, and the bird park , but that's more or less it."

" I'll take you around the area! But most probably after next week, there's that possibility some of us would be taken to go for that leadership camp they always said we'd have to go."

" A camp?"

" Yeah, it's a leadership camp which they would choose some people to go camping with. Donald, you think you can make it?"

" I don't actually fancy going to such a camp like that. Truth be told, I'd rather be at home, or experimenting on those firecrackers I just made. It's gonna be a blast!"

" Donald, at least try to restrain yourself. What would Yao say?"

" Probably mutter something in Mandarin, though he knows perfectly well I can understand him, just that I haven't really mastered answering him back. Leona, weren't you going to tutor me in it or something?"

" I will! But I've been so busy lately with the classes that it's completely slipped my mind!"

" Ve, Doitsu and I have been coaching the team for so long, I've completely forgotten how it was like to have some time to myself."

" Feliciano, you just spent your afternoon sleeping in the supply closet instead of doing rounds on the track with the rest of the team. How does that register as " not having time to yourself"?

" Uhuhu, Doitsu, you won't understand the subtleties of siestas!"

" My hope is, I never have to."

" Hehheh, Matthew, you and Doitsu have a lot in common! He just moved here a year ago himself!

" Oh, really?"

" Ahem, yes. My brother got an offer to become the assistant to the principal, cause the principal was a friend of our grandfather's. So he moved us here."

"Uhhuh! Gilbert's funny! And he's ever so nice! A few days ago, he fixed us a big dinner!"

"Erm, Feliciano, he invited you over for dinner, but it was potluck."

"No biggie! It's still dinner!"

"So tell me more about your move here. I mean, it's a bit weird. How do you cope with such a big change?"

"It is a big change, but then I always remind myself that a soldier has to adapt."

"That's it?"

"Uhhuh, that's basically it."

"Oh...."

"I still say the term is asshole!"

"Arsehole!"

" So who do you think is going to the camp, Ludwig san? Your brother would have some idea, right?"

" Well, he said that it would definitely be those from the different cubs and societies and classes who have demonstrated leadership and yet can still be clever enough to survive in any situation."

" Like what kinda situation, Doitsu?"

" Well, judging by what my brother says, he says we're going to be dumped on an island in teams for a week."

" Hmm, so the person has to be hardy, huh? I do say, that must be every interesting. "

" Yeah, Donald. So most probably, my brother would just dump all the committee members of each different club and societies and pick them out of a hat."

" That is a lot like what Gilbert-san would do."

" Hey, does that mean we're all in trouble?"

" Whaddya mean?"

" That argument took a while to finish, Alfred."

" Yeah, well, it was worth it . So who's in trouble? The hero would come and save them!"

" We are, including you."

" Eh?"

" It's cause of the selection for the students for the camp. You're Class Chairman, Arthur and I are in the committee for Debate, Ludwig and Feliciano are football Captains, Kiku is Art Club President and Donald's a Prefect and Head of Student Welfare in the council."

" Which, I may add, I still don't understand how I even got that role in the first place."

"In any case, don't worry, Matthew, I don't believe you're going to be in the camp."

" That's a relief, right?"

"I don't believe in any case that you would be chosen !"

" So, in any case, we all have to go back to school,ne? They're announcing the results tomorrow. So all the committee leaders and committees have to go back."

" Sigh , I really hope I don't get picked."

* * *

The next day:

" I apologize for having to bring all you kids back on a Saturday, but it's time for the announcement of "Who' s Going to Be In the Leadership Camp While Gilbert Just Picks Them Out of A Hat Thingy." Exercise!" said the principal of Hetalia as he happily stood on the podium, happily surveying the people around him.

Is it possible that the principal can be a little too happy for today? Thought Matthew as he drowsily stared at the principal's happy face as he tried to raise his head up. Alfred and he got back home a bit late and the fact that they had to wake up early to get to the school made it worse.

Now the audience may be asking, " Why is Matthew doing back in school anyway ? Is this another attempt at the author to try and arrange events so that the two main characters would be able to spend time together to fall in love?"

" The answer would definitely be Of Course, My audience! I get to do whatever I want cause I'M THE AUTHOR!" shouts the author as she types on the computer, on a Chibitalia high. But then she digresses. What about poor Matthew? What was he doing in school on a Saturday morning like this , when he wasn't supposed to be there?

" What AM I doing in school on a Saturday morning like this , when I wasn't supposed to be there in the first place?" mused Matthew as he used his hand to brush his hair out of eyes. This country was so humid! How as it possible that he was going to survive for the next few years?

" Because" said Alfred, who somehow as still perky and happy despite the fact that he had slept at the same time as Matthew ." You got that message on your phone, right? That it was imperative you attend today's announcement. I wonder why though."

" Alright, so let's get this show on the road! Now, Gilbert has your names in this hat " Gilbert emphasized that fact by actually shaking the hat, waving it happily. Matthew noticed that the hat had little pictures of chicks on it, along with the words " I'm awesome " sewn on it in felt. Definitely no clues as to who owned the hat." And what we're gonna do is just pick a name from the hat, comprehende? We're gonna pick twenty names out of this hat, which represents the twenty of you that would get chosen to attend this camp. At the end of such, I would be presenting two surprises."

Some kids were actually looking excited at the idea while others were just really bored or just not interested. Matthew just did not understand why his brother was actually so excited at the idea. Most of his friends seemed just okay with it, though Donald seem a little shifty…

" And the first name called out would be…" Gilbert shuffled around the hat, took out a lot and passed it to the Principal. " The first name is ……Honda , Kiku!"

The young Japanese boy blushed, and Matthew noticed that the two boys flanking his sides seemed to beam at Kiku, then glared at each other.

"And the next name would be …Im, Yong Soo!"

" Yes! Voting was started in Korea, you know!" shouted a random boy who Matthew seemed to realized was hugging the other Asian Boy next to him.

" The third is… Zwingli, Vash!"

The Blonde boy , who seemed to be wielding a gun ( A gun?!thought Matthew), bowed.

" And the next would be… My cute grandson! Feliciano! You get to come with Grandpa on the trip!"

The young Italian beamed happily, and hugged Ludwig while the boy next to him ( was he seeing double?) scowled.

The votes went on. Ludwig was chosen as well, along with Leona ( who had punched her fist into the air , and said "Boo yeah!") , a Chinese boy called Wang Yao , a tall Russian Boy with a friendly , yet creepy countenance called Ivan Braginski , Arthur, Feliciano's twin Lovino ( which had led the principal to shout, " My other cute grandson! Grandpa loves you both!" and wave happily on the stage, while the boy scowled in embarrassment). "bin Zainuddin, Iskandar " was called up as well, a swarthy Malay boy with a proud look on his face and so was " Braginski, Natalia" . The two boys that had flanked Kiku were named the next candidates and both had beamed at Kiku before glaring at each other.

The next few went as a bit of a blur to Matthew but he had noticed that Donald , who was rather dismayed at the news, was chosen as well.

"And finally, we have Bonnefoy, Francis." Matthew, who did recognize the boy, watched amused as the French boy started hugging everyone , groping their butts as he did , and when he tried to hug Leona, Matthew distinctly heard two familiar cracks and a high pitched scream in pain . Ah , Leona was indeed scary.

" Now, you may ask, what the two surprises are." Said the principal as Gilbert put away the hat. " As you may know, every year we usually choose 20 children , with no exceptions whatsoever. But this year, we decided to allow one more exception. He's only been elected for a few months, but we feel that he has embodied the true spirits of what it means to be a hero."

Oh, for god's sake, he wasn't just saying that, right? And the use of the word, "hero"….oh no.

" So this year, we're pleased to invite Alfred F. Jones into the camp!" Said the principal as he held up his hand in a thumbs up sign." Go for it Alfred!"

Alfred, who was so happy, starting running up and down and doing the YMCA dance. Matthew who had no idea why he did that when he was happy, preferred to try and doze off for the next few minutes.

" And the other surprise…" said the principal as he grinned happily. 'As you all know we have a new student who had just entered the campus a few days ago."

Matthew, who this reference was pointedly named towards, was still dozing off.

"Well, because of the fact that he has entered the campus at such an interesting time, the team and I have agreed that he should be included in the Hetalia spirit, so he too would be included into the camp as well! Thus……MATTHEW WILLIAMS! You too would be chosen to go to camp with the whole bunch of us!"

Said student, who had woken up at the sound of his name, had heard the last sentence, took one look at the people around him, the principal and finally the silvered haired grinning man next to him on the stage.

And he knew that he was not going to like what the future held for him.

**Author Notes:**

**Hihi, and welcome to the next installment of Why Am I Here Again? . I actually own up to making up OCs in this story, even though I used to hate the idea myself. But then the wagon came along , and said," why don't we get a band on this wagon?" so I jumped in.**

**Now the explanation for why I made the behavior of some people that way:**

**Francis: Why is he hanging out with the teachers instead of people his own age? Well, its actually very common to see teens be friends in a group of grown ups. My best guy friend hangs out with his vice principal sometimes while clubbing, along with a bunch of other people who are in their late twenties, so I believe that it can't be so strange that Francis hangs out with people 6 years older than him, let alone his teachers.**

**Leona Lee: I'm actually very proud of my depiction of her. And yeah, she's the representative of Singapore. See, Singapore , where I live in, is actually a very tiny country at the tip of Malaysia . The common perception of Singapore is that it is actually a province in China, thus this sorta explains why Matthew thought that Leona was Chinese . The perception that Leona would be a law abiding citizen could be due to Singapore's notorious reputation of its Draconian Laws and government, but then again, Singapore isn't all laws and no fun. Leona is tiny but the fact that she can shout very loudly, defend herself well enough, especially against perverts and throw a durian at her attackers can be due to the compulsory military National Service for males in Singapore at the age of 18 for 2 years. Thus, she may be small , but she can throw a punch.**

**The durian , is a green spiky fruit with a sort of doughy flesh. It's fragrant to the locals, but the foreigners apparently hate the smell.**

**And why the name Leona Lee? Well, Leona has its ties in the word Leo, also known as Lion in English. This ties in with the idea that Singapore is the Lion city, due to a rather weird founding story of how the country got its name. Lee was the surname of the founding fathers of the country, Lee Kuan Yew, who served as Prime Minister from 1963 -1990. Pretty long, huh? The fact that I made her Eurasian ties in with the idea that Singapore is a multicultural society.**

**Donald Wong Xing Ci: Yeah, there's Hong Kong. I didn't have much to work with at first, except for the fact that he likes eating baos and firecrackers. My friend reckons that he's a bit like Okita Sougo in Gintama or a less psychotic Joker .The fact that Hetalia Wikia describes him as " an emotionless country which you can't tell what he's thinking" kinda strengthened this perception .Thus, here comes the idea of a Hong Kong who likes to throw firecrackers for no reason, and likes to experiment with Firecrackers, thus he'll be a sort of mad scientist kinda guy. I think I made him a sort of slacker who doesn't like strenuous activity. How he became a prefect and Head of Welfare in the student council is beyond me.**

**Donald is taken from the current Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, and Wong is a Cantonese intonation of Wang, like Wang Yao. Xing Ci is written 星赐 which means " Bestowed Upon By the Stars", so if you combine it with Wong ( 王, also a term for King) , it thus becomes :" A king bestowed upon By the stars" . That wasn't my first intention when naming him this. I just wanted to name him after Stephen Chow, a famous actor in Hong Kong, but I was afraid of copyright issues.**


	3. And off they went to Pulau Ubin

Chapter 3: And off they went ...to Palau Ubin.

"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottle of beer!" chanted the Principal and Feliciano as they were sitting on the bus to the ferry that would take them to the island they would be staying for the next few days. Lovino next them rolled his eyes as the bus continued its journey.

Matthew sighed for the 1001th time ( Alfred , the idiot, was keeping count for him next to him, so every time he sighed, there was Alfred going , " One more! That adds up to the 1001th time you sighed!" or something to that extent.). How he actually managed to go along with the principal's idea was beyond him.

When the principal had announced his name from the microphone, Matthew suffered a moment of disbelief. The words "What?" couldn't get out of his mouth properly, turning into a "Wha-haart?" Yes, somehow he turned into one of those weird people who can't speak properly due to the fact that they had too many marbles in their mouth. That was just how shocked he was.

And it was partly due to the curly haired guy, who was standing on stage, next to the silvered haired guy with the ruby eyes. (Now that he thought about it, how was it possible that the Principal, who should be at least 60 years old to have two twin teenaged grandsons, could still have brown, curly hair that made him look roguish and youthful? Even George Clooney had silver hair, and he was 50! ) . Because of the Principal's announcement, that was how Mathew found himself having no choice but to pack up some supplies along with his toothbrush, some spare clothes, his PE kit and Kumajiro's food bag as he, Kumajiro and Alfred stepped out of their house, ready for camp. Well, Alfred was. He had already packed in a whole week's worth of Hamburgers (courtesy of Carl's Juniors) and was right now unwrapping a Portobello mushroom Thickburger.

Lord, amen to those who eat the burger which is thick, Thought Matthew as he watched his brother open his mouth to chomp down on his burger. Kumajiro, who was sitting on Matthew's lap (Yeah, he took the bear along with him. Because if left with their dad, Matthew was sure that the father wouldn't even remember who Kumajiro was, let alone feed him. In some aspects, it was fairly certain that Matthew shared attributes with his father.) , was staring at the burger, the slight gleam in his eye hinting at some sort of mischief. Matthew caught notice and went to admonish the bear.

"Kumaqiqi, I fed you before we left the house! Remember that stack of pancakes I gave you?"

The bear looked at him and said," Yeah, who are you?"

"Ca-na-da, Kumakuma, Ca-na-da." sighed Matthew. It was easier for the bear to refer to him as the country instead of his full name .Thus, he always used it, hoping that the bear would actually remember the term.

He glanced at the front of the bus, to where slicked blonde hair was next to spiky silver. From what he could tell, spiky silver was drooping to the left, which meant that Gilbert was most probably taking a nap. The blonde next to him was looking straight forward , occasionally turning right towards the direction of the singing Principal and his two grandsons. Matthew's attention, however, was more towards the silver head on the right of the blonde.

He was sure that somehow, that Gilbert was the cause of his problems. He had only took one look at the man's grinning face to realize that the " Team" that the principal had consisted of one person alone, and that person was the one who had hinted/suggested the idea to include Matthew into the camp along with his brother.

In other words, it was all Gilbert Bellischmidt's fault.

Not that he was angry at him, oh no. The fact was Matthew was not mad at the decision at all. Merely more resigned and slightly annoyed that Gilbert would still want to pick on him. He decided to just concentrate the annoyed feelings on analysing why the man would want to pick on him.

Not that he was, you know, staring at his love from afar. No siree. He just wanted to understand the decision made, and to do that, he would have to look at the guy's head for that. No other excuses. Of course. Yeah. Sure.

* * *

As it was made obvious at the beginning of the chapter, the people were now sitting on a bus, going towards a ferry that would take them to the island that they would be staying for the week and a half. Pulau Ubin.

Now, half the locals in Singapore (the males) have an island that is most special in their hearts. When they turn 18, it is that island which some would have to go to in order to go through the first step of manhood and basic military training, For 2 weeks , that island would be their home. Many males have found friendships there, under the hot sun and the white sands.

Yeah. The island where the crew was going to was next to that memorable island.

* * *

"So, ladies and gentlemen, we're here, on this island next to the other memorable island!"shouted the principal as he waved his hands around , looking as though he was there to strip down to a pair of Speedos, oil himself and pose on the beach, much like a Roman Statue. In other words, he was just there to have fun.

The others were not having as much fun. Roderich was currently using a magazine to swat away mosquitoes and shade his eyes from the sun. Matthew was sweating buckets as he was situated somewhere directly under the hot sun. The Chinese boy, Yao was cursing and muttering in Mandarin, trying to hide behind the taller, heavier built Russian boy Ivan to block out the sun. The other Russian girl Natalia, who looked somewhat like a female version of Ivan, was glaring openly at Yao and clinging on to her sister. Kiku kept scratching his arm in irritation due to him being bitten by mosquitoes. Donald was practically wilting. Yeah, the crew wasn't looking so hot. But technically, they did feel the heat.

"Okay, so basically, the trick is, we're gonna dump you guys on the island in separate teams and you guys would have to complete certain objectives as you survive for a week. Each of you would have a teacher or staff member supervising on each team so that to make sure all of the team members would be fine. In return, we would also have a team that would be situated in one particular spot who would be tracking you guys as they won't be participating due to certain reasons of their own!" the principal continued." The team teachers would be as follow: My team would be Team 1, Mr Gilbert Bellischmidt's team is Team 2, and Team 3 would be under Mr Antonio Carriedo, Team 4 with Mr Roderich Edelstein and Team 5 under Ms Elizaveta Hedavary. Base camp would be under the school nurse Katyusha Braginski! So, people, when I call your names, go to your team teachers!"

Thus, it was such that the team distribution began.

* * *

Team 1: Principal, Alfred F. Jones, Arthur Kirkland, Francis Bonnefoy, Leona Lee

"Why do we get stuck with the principal? And why do I have to get stuck with you guys! Not you, Leona, of course, but those two sodding wankers!"

"Oh, lighten up, Artie, I think this would be fun!"

" Oui, though I ponder at the loss of any female babes in this team. Leona! Comfort me, mon Cherie!"

Snap! Crack!

"Leona, don't hurt the nice French guy. We need him for the week."

" Aw, but he's so much fun to break!"

* * *

Team 2: Gilbert Bellischmidt, Matthew Williams, Feliciano Vargas, Ludwig Bellischmidt

"Doitsu! We're together!"

"Hm. Yes, which I believe should be a good thing. If you stick by us, I think you'll be fine, Feliciano. Hello, Matthew, you're joining us too?"

" I believe so. I'm not so good at this kind of stuff, so please don't kill me!"

" Nah, it's okay! Doitsu always protects me, so he'll protect you too!"

" H-hey, don't say such embarrassing things about me in public!"

"Haha, Doitsu's blushing!"

" Kesesese! You guys are in my team, aren'cha? Welcome to Team Awesome! I'm team leader, Ludwig's my assistant and you two are my cheerleaders!"

" ....Maple...."

* * *

Team 3: Antonio Carriedo, Lovino Vargas, Im Yong Soo , Vash Zwingli

"Lovinito! We're in the same team!"

" Why do I have to get stuck with you on the same team, Dammit ! Why am I in this team anyway? And stop hugging me and calling me " Lovinito", you bastard!"

"Aw....don't you look like a tomato!"

"Leggo of me, damnit!"

" Tomatoes were created in Korea, you know! See, in the 9th century-"

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU! STOP HUGGING THAT BOY, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A TEACHER !ACT LIKE ONE! AND YOU! STOP TELLING ALL SORT OF WEIRD LIES!"

".....yes sir...."

* * *

Team 4: Roderich Edelstein, Kiku Honda, Sadiq Adnan , Heracles Kapusi

( Two of them are glaring at each other. No prizes guessing who.)

" So, Edelstein-sensei, we're going to be on the same team, pleased to learn more from you."

"Thank you, Kiku, at least you're not one of the more troublesome students."

"The principal is crying, huh?"

"Yes, Kiku. He couldn't believe that he wasn't on the same team as his two grandsons , so he's sobbing over there behind that rock.

"That's a shame."

"Such a shame."

* * *

Team 5: Wang Yao, Ivan Braginski, Iskandar bin Zainuddin, Natalia Braginski, Elizaveta Hedavary.

"Brother, we are in the same team. This is a great opportunity to become one. Let us get married!"

"Erm, Natalia. I'm your twin brother....It's not appropriate."

"Miss Hedavary, where is Donald anyway ? I wanted to berate him over his country joining communism."

"Well, he's going to be with base camp. Remember on the way here he started offering us Char Siew Baos?"

" Yes, but I didn't eat one, there's pork in it. Not halal. Though the halal version of it belongs to Malaysia-"

'Well, what happened was that the Char Siew Baos were all firecrackers. His new experiment, apparently, called them Char-plosives. They set off a racket and as a result, he's going to be punished by remaining here at base camp so that he won't misbehave."

"Xing Ci Zhen shi yi ge da ben dan."

"He seems calm about it, though."

* * *

Base Camp: Tino Vainamoinen , Berwald Oxensternia, Feliks Łukasiewicz, Donald Wong, Toris Lorinaitis, School Nurse: Katyusha Braginski.

"Like Donald, what are you doing here?"

" I gave out the firecrackers so that I can somewhat get out of being out in the woods with the rest for a week. Looks like it worked."

"Wow, that's like totally rad and stuff. Me, I told the nurse that I have a skin allergy to grass and heat, so I'm going to so totally stay here in base camp too."

"That's seems cool, Feliks."

"Su-san, it's a good thing you're going to be in base camp. I know I can't walk very well due to my asthma , so I'm sorry for dragging you down with me..."

"H'ph. It's ok'y.'

"Ah, I'm sorry if I offended you!"

"So, Toris! It's a good thing you're a first aider, so you and I can help to nurse those that are sick over here at base camp!'

" Yes, Nurse Braginski!"

"Call me Katyusha! Everybody does! I hope Ivan and Natalia would be okay! My boss told me I couldn't follow them, so I've got to make sure they don't see me throughout."

"Erm....Katyusha, are you actually crying?"

" My poor siblings! I won't be able to see you for a week, please forgive me!"

* * *

Eventually, after injuries were tended to, guns were kept , and the Principal was forced to get up after a crying fit and a demand for a regrouping ( ' At least Feliciano then? Or Lovino? One is fine too!') the groups were off. Firstly , they were to get the different team instructions as well as team challenges that they had to complete. This would have to be completed within the week that they would be surviving there. After such, each member would have to write a report to explain how they completed the challenge. Matthew, who hoped that his brother wouldn't cause his other members to kill him and bury his body at the edge of the swamp, picked up his knapsack, Kumajiro in his arms, and followed his team mates for the next few days to their camping spot. The map was currently being held by the self proclaimed team leader Gilbert, who was very sure that due to his awesome status, he wouldn't cause his teammates to get lost. Matthew, who had doubts about that sort of reasoning, turned back to look at Ludwig, who was the more responsible one on the team. Unfortunately, Ludwig, who was making sure that Feliciano did not wander off , ( "he has this thing that makes him want to try all sort of weird things to do, such as eat mushrooms. Or play with cats."), did not look back at him, thus Matthew's faith in Gilbert actually getting them to the proper area was not one hundred percent there.

Thus, Matthew followed his team as they trudged off into the forested area, a 15 min walk away from the beach. With Gilbert leading , Matthew in the middle carrying Kumajiro and Feliciano and Ludwig bringing up the rear, the team managed to reach their spot in a while, which was a surprise for Matthew, who expected Gilbert to have gotten them lost at one point and then argue that his " awesome" skills wouldn't have failed him.

" It would have been longer if we have let Feliciano run off to see some cats walking around the area." said Ludwig as they placed their things down on the grass patch next to a tree. 'Okay, none of you guys brought anything sweet here, right? This place is notorious for red ants , and they liked sweet things."

"Oh no." murmured Matthew as he put Kumajiro down and went quickly to his bag. " I brought a few bottles of Maple syrup to go with my pancakes, but I guess I can't use them now."

Gilbert was not there , having decided that the awesome had heard the call of Nature looking for him and had gone to answer it, but Ludwig and Feliciano did, and gaped at Matthew.

"What?" said Matthew as he opened up his bag, checking that the maple syrup was still in the bag.

Both teenagers exchanged a look before looking back at Matthew, evidently in shock. It was Feliciano who broke the silence by giggling . Ludwig was still staring at Matthew with his mouth open and Feliciano reached over and put his hand under Ludwig's chin so that he could shut the open mouth.

" VE~!Ludwig, that's so unseemly!" turning to Matthew, Feliciano said" I'm sorry about that, it's just that….you like pancakes."

Matthew, who did not know how that implicated anything, said ," Yes?"

The young Italian nodded. " And , you like Maple Syrup."

Still confused, Matthew said, "What's your point?"

Feliciano started giggling even more. Matthew, who was confused, turned to look at Ludwig for help. The young blonde, who had finished looking at him in disbelief, began to start dismantling the pack he had carried, saying, " You are just like _bruder_."

" Pardon?"

" He said that you were like Gilbert!" chirped the other boy, going to his bag as well." Cause Gilbert loves sweet stuff, and Pancakes with Maple Syrup are his favourite!"

Wow, somehow Matthew found something in common with the annoying man .And with something that he loved so much. Maybe it was time he killed the other guy just so that he could be the only pancake with maple syrup loving guy around.

Just a joke.

After Gilbert had come back ( with a yellow plump bird on his head that just nestled in his head) , the team started getting their chores tasks started. Considering that it was a high noon, the students started to go get water for the camp and set up their tents. With that, the team managed to settle in and prepare themselves for the week that would follow.

Well, settle in as much as they could, of course.

'Doitsu, these instructions for the tent is so hard!" Feliciano whined as he gave the tent instructions back to Ludwig. " Firstly, why are we even doing it now? I wanna take my siesta!"

" Feliciano, in order to do so, we've got to place the tent up first so that you can sleep, right?" Ludwig said, exasperated that he had to have this conversation with Feliciano for the hundredth time." And for that matter, Feliciano, why do you need to sleep at this hour? We still have a lot of things to do!"

" Ve~! Doitsu!"

Gilbert , who though was very awesome, thought that if he had to help with the tent making, he would have gone mad with Feliciano helping. Though he adored Feliciano, sometimes the Italian boy was a bit troublesome. He thus grabbed the blonde boy, who was currently feeding Kumajiro, and said, " Milady and I are going to go fetch firewood and dry wood, so if you don't mind me, West?"

Ludwig turned back and said ," Go ahead, just try not to do anything weird, like find a nest and adopting all the birds or something."

" Aw, and make Gilbird jealous? That won't be awesome!"

" Just go."

Gilbert grinned, and started dragging the other boy down the forest. Matthew squirmed a bit, and looked at him," _Milady_?_"_

Gilbert shrugged. " Why not?" he said, as he started to search the grounds, picking up twigs and tree branches as he went along. " It seems to suit you, milady."

Matthew blushed , and cursed his feminine looks. He had the same face and looked exactly like Alfred, yet, Alfred never had such problems! " What exactly are we looking for?"

Gilbert's red eyes went wide, "You mean you don't know?"

Matthew blushed again, though this time with a bit of embarrassment. ' Well, I haven't really been camping before…and I'm not really sure what kinda materials we can find here that can make a bonfire…"

Gilbert sighed, "Look, kid. Since this is your first time, I'll guide you through it, Kay? Okay, firstly look for coconut husk and small twigs, that can be found at the bottom of some trees. They can help in starting the fire."

Matthew nodded and went to search for some, while Gilbert followed behind him to make sure he got the correct type, half grinning at the innuendo he just made , and half disbelieving that Matthew had never went camping before. Back in Germany, every weekend he would bring Ludwig out to the nearby forest to go camping, and teach him the outdoor life. Gilbert himself was taught by his grandfather who had brought him up, and when Ludwig was growing up, it was up to Gilbert to teach him as well. While this was a different type of forest, Gilbert, who had read up his outdoor woodsman guide, knew somewhat what to do.

And now he was teaching this young Canadian what to do. It was almost like being back in Germany, teaching Ludwig how to strip bark from a tree. Or how to build a bonfire. Or how to dress up in Lederhosen and yodel at the side of the mountain.

Matthew, who had gathered up some husk and some small twigs, went up to show the man. He then stopped, and asked," Erm..Mister Bellischmidt?"

"Call me Gilbert, don't be so formal, milady. Awesomous is fine too."

"Well, it's nothing much, but erm…you have a bird…on your head?"

"Are you saying I'm crazy?"

The young boy started getting flustered," No really, there's a bird on your head."

"Eh?"Gilbert frowned a bit, and gestured around his head. Feeling the texture change, he then picked up the bird and stared at it." This thing fucking sat on my head, huh?"

"Oh, please don't kill it, I'm sure it didn't mean to…"

"Gilbird!" The bird cheeped in reply." What the hell are you doing here?"

Matthew widened his eyes. " You know him?"

Gilbert placed the bird back on his head again. Gilbird seemed to snuggle into his hair and cheeped twice .

"Yeah, meet the awesome pet of the awesome owner, "Bellischmidt's Extremely Awesome Rocket Bird which is Cool and Avenges Justice", in short, Gilbird." The " Bellischmidt" of the bird's title said, grinning as he went back to finding more dry wood for the fire. " I had him for a while in Germany. But back then, he was a wild bird, so when I had to emigrate here, I had to give him up. When we first moved here, after a day or two however, there he was sitting on my head again, although Ludwig had to point him out to me." Gilbert grabbed a stick, holding it in his arms," I figured if he was strong enough to fly all the way from Germany to this country, then he was an Awesome bird. So I adopted him. But I could have sworn I left him at the pet sitters house along with the dogs.."

Matthew had to admit, the story of love between the bird and owner was an extraordinary one. He glanced back at the campsite, where Kumajiro had devoured all the food he had given him and was now shuffling towards a tree branch, gnawing it as he went. He wondered if such a story of love would ever occur between him and Kumajiro.

_It was a wonderful spring day as Matthew was walking in the hills. Though he had moved to a cabin next to a beautiful forest , he wondered just how was it that he was still feeling restless and lonely. It must be the loss of Kumajiro, his beloved polar bear .Dressed in a summer dress and a hat, he walked in loneliness. "Oh Kumajiro, where are you? Why did you leave me? Oh, the pain and suffering I face as I foresee so many days without you!"_

_He came across a field of wildflowers, which were set against a setting sun, Matthew felt as though the scene could blast the icicles of loneliness in his heart and he could have this scene, forever and ever ,to remember. _

_He heard a shuffle a few metres behind him, and lo and behold! There he was!_

' _Ah! Kunamatata!"He screamed, as he ran towards his bear in slow motion. His bear! His bear had found him! They would never be separated again! Oh, such DEGREE of love cannot be found anyway else! The fact that slow , romantic music was being played in the background did not faze the Canadian boy, as he ran forward. "I love you!"_

_The bear, who found himself in a slow motion scene, turned towards his master in slow motion and said four simple words, the words which Matthew knew would be the ones which would define their relationship forever._

'_Who are you again?"_

**Crash.**

Well, there went the fantasy.

"Yo, milady, you there?" said Gilbert as he moved his hands across Matthew eyes. "We've got wood to find."

* * *

Meanwhile, in team one's camp.....

"ARGH! ARTHUR IS COOKING! FRANCIS, DO SOMETHING!"

"MON DIEU! I FEAR TO LOOK, BUT I CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OF IT!"

" YOU BLOODY IDIOTS! DON'T MAKE ME WALK OVER THERE! I'LL...I'LL!"

" WHAT? SCARE ME AWAY WITH YOU MOVING EYEBROWS?"

"ALFRED, YOU BASTARD!"

"Sir, do you need more tissues? I have tons of these to use to reserve stuff with."

" Thank you, my dear, now come on, let's go get fish to make dinner with."

"SOURCILS, SOURCILS!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANT, BUT SHUT UP!"

* * *

Back at Team 2's campsite where Feliciano and Ludwig were:

"ARGH! A WOLF!"

" Feliciano, it's a tropical forest. Wolves don't live here."

* * *

In Team 3's campsite, storytelling was happening:

" You know, we Koreans were the first to come up with the concept of camping. See, in the 10th century, when a Korean Philosopher, who was bored and had eaten up all his Kimchi in his house, decided to go out and find some more. It turned dark pretty quickly and the guy wanted to rest. But all he had was this giant cloth thingy and a few stirring spoons for the Kimchi. So what he did was to use the cloth and the spoons to make a makeshift tent! He continued this for the next few days while searching for the Kimchi. Then, the people who saw the tent were so impressed with the idea, they did the same thing while travelling for days to search for Kimchi. Thus, that's how camping started! From the wonderful country of Korea!"

"OMG! THAT IS SUCH A NOBLE THING TO DO!YOU KOREANS ARE SO WONDERFUL, INVENTING ALL SORTS OF STUFF TO ENTREAT TO THE WORLD!"

" Mr Carriedo, I never knew you admired the Koreans so much! Come on, I shall tell you how bull fighting got started in Korea too!"

"Oh, bullfighting started in your country too? That's so wonderful! That must show how much the Spanish admire your culture so much!"

" Oy, you jackass! Stop listening to Yong Soo, damnit! You know perfectly well that bullfighting did not start in Korea! You were a matador, cretino! Pay attention!"

" Aw....Lovinito cares so much about me!"

"Let go!"

" Ahem, before I shoot your asses , is anyone gonna help me carry the pot of water so that I can cook things?"

" I'll do it!", " No, I'm the adult , let me !", " Stop shoving!"

" Good, then get out the food next!"

" Yes sir!"

* * *

Team 4's campsite:

Total peace and quiet.

Kiku looked around the peaceful setting, admiring the zen and happiness this place seemed to bring. They had already fixed up the tents, set up a chores timetable and were now just happily watching the sunset, with Kiku and Roderich sipping tea out of two cups and Sadiq and Heracles still glaring at each other every few minutes while looking at both the sunset and Kiku's happy face.

Yes, Team 4 were the quiet team. Don't worry, it doesn't stay like that for long.

* * *

In team 5's campsite, a very interesting thing was happening. Ivan, who was a very intimidating boy, was actually hiding behind a big rock to avoid his twin sister, Natalia.

"Oh big brother….I'm looking for you! Where are you? You know you can't hide from your twin sister forever, da? Let us be one too!"

Ivan shivered. How was it possible that Natalia can be so scary, even though they were from the same family ? ( Big irony, audience. Big.) He just hoped that Natalia wouldn't be able to find him for the next few days, and that he could pass through this camp trip with no more scratches.

Yao, who was watching the entire process from the tent, felt slight pity for his crush. Ivan was a bit of an intimidating man who did like to terrorize the Baltic trio back in school (so named because the three were cousins from different part of the Baltic.) But he had to admit, Natalia was even more terrifying than Ivan when needed.

He could understand what Ivan went through. So far, throughout the trip, that Malay boy who Yao had never set eyes on before was deeming him a communist and kept making pointed remarks about the communist Chinese, even deeming him as an enemy to the state and kept going into "Emergency mode" whenever Yao had gone near him to ask for something. It was, as what Xing Ci would say, "A quandary".

Speaking of Xing Ci, Yao wondered. How was his cousin doing back in base camp?

Meanwhile, the boy who Yao was deeming slightly irritating was smirking.

Hah! Iskandar thought, as he stared at Yao with a gleam in his eyes. If there was something Iskandar bin Zainuddin knew he hated, he knew he hated communism. He was okay with the Chinese, he thought, just not the communist bit.

Now, just a bit of a look at Iskandar, since we're already at this point of the story.

Iskandar was a tall Malay boy who had been rather proud of his Malaysian heritage, his father being a rather important person, a Tungku (Prince). Since moving from Malaysia to Singapore though, he loved to tell stories about his native Malaysia. As he was a debater (that's how he got chosen to attend the camp, cause he was the treasurer of the Debate society), occasionally, he would also claim that some items belong to him, and would fight with different people about it. A most recent one would include a serious debate over Singaporean Food with Leona, which would have led to a summit lasting 5 days and nights if Arthur hadn't separated them. While Leona and Iskandar usually got along well, some of the arguments they had usually made them rather sore points for each other. Leona herself had once pointed out that though they argued loads with each other, they also needed each other. This did not mean that they loved each other. On the contrary. While they would do favours for each other, they were at most friends, not close, but still friends.

So anyway, let's get back to the story….now where were we….oh yeah, Yao. And now that he thought about it, Yao's cousin, Donald. He and Donald usually got along well together, but the recent move of Donald to his cousin's place as a bit irritating for him, for he was now a communist as well. How idiotic.

How was base camp doing anyway?

* * *

Base camp:

"I want your loving and I want your revenge, you and me could have a bad romance!"

"Toris, you're not bad a dancer! But you just have to like, totally shake your ass a bit more!"

"Feliks, please! I'm not used to dancing!"

"It was great that we brought a CD player with speakers, huh, Su-san?"

"Y'eh."

"Donald, you should, like, dance too!"

"In a minute! I'm trying out this new idea for the Chars plosives!"

"Okay then! Hey, Katyush-babe! Come on, don't be such a baby! Dance!"

"Vanya! Anya! Your sister misses you!"

**Author's notes: Hi, guys! New instalment! It's not as good as I like it to be (for example, there's not much Gilbert or Matthew! I'm crying here myself.) But this is so that we can sorta glance at what the other teams are doing for I might not mention them much for the next chapters. Don't worry, there would be special chapters dedicated to each team so that we'll know just what they're up to.)And I'll write more about Matthew and Gilbert in the future. (I can imagine Gilbert screaming at me for not making more of his awesome presence known in this chapter.)**

**Yes, Donald got out of the camp by doing what he does best! Whoohoo! Ying Jie, you must be so proud.**

**Now, a new OC comes in! Yes, if you guessed it right, he's the country of Malaysia. I mentioned his name once in Chapter 2, so in chapter 3 I thought I might as well clear some things up so that we won't have further confusion.**

**So, Iskandar bin Zainuddin, is a tall Malay boy, due to most of Malaysia's population being Malay. Malaysia is also known for its communal politics and communal policies, basically a policy that favour the Malay race more than the other races. Thus, I imagine Iskandar is proud to be Malay, and the idea that his father used to be a prince makes this boy more proud of his heritage, somewhat true since Malaysia has showered quite a lot of people with such titles. Malaysia also has a bit of history with fighting with people over things, as well as claiming that such things actually belong to their country. This year, for example, a politician actually claimed that the chilli crab, a famous dish in Singapore, along with other food stuff such as the chicken rice, belong to Malaysia. This also happened a few times with some islands such as the Spratly islands ( which was fought over with Philippines.) the regions of Sabah and Sarawak, ( fought over with Indonesia and the Philippines, and recently, Pedra Branca ( fought over with Singapore). Thus, Iskandar's a lot like Yong Soo. Yes. TWO Yong Soo's running around. Even I feel scared.**

**The idea that Iskandar doesn't like communism stems from the fact that Malaysia is a staunch anti-communist country. And the idea that Donald would get along with Iskandar can be due to the fact that many executives and business tycoons from Hong Kong are actually descended from Malay Chinese in Malaysia. Don't ask why. It's a very weird thing.**

**Some phrases, just in case: Yao went "Xing Ci zhen shi yi ge da ben dan". What Yao said was basically, "Xing Ci (Donald's Chinese name) is really a giant stupid head."**

**Francis going:" Sourcils" is a reference to his eyebrows.**

**Vanya and Anya: I believe they are versions of nicknames you can give to people named Ivan and Natalia. Unless I got it wrong? Enlighten me!**


	4. The Boys Who Stare at Boars

Chapter 4: The Boys Who Stare at Boars.

When we last left our main characters, team of the moment Team 2, (for convenience purposes known as Team Awesome), half of them, a German and his friend the Italian Scaredy Cat Feliciano were setting up tents back in their campsite, while the other half, the German's brother who thinks he's Prussian but in reality is still a German and his favourite victim/friend/hobby are gathering wood and fire starters.

So basically they're starting to get used to their surroundings, but what happens as the sun goes down?

Pay attention, readers. This may come in handy.

* * *

The whole idea and objective of the survival camp was to the principal a genius idea that came to him like a spark of enlightenment to Buddha under a tree. Of course, the principal was not actually Buddha, having been actually a soldier with his best friend Lukas Bellischmidt in the army ducking behind a bush during crossfire with the enemy when the idea came to him.

'Say, Bellischmidt! I've got a great idea!" shouted the stockier brunette as he and his friend were reloading their weapons.

"Yeah, Vargas? Does it have anything to do with getting out of here in one piece?" the slighter , more lanky blonde man retorted as he cocked his rifle, ready to run out and attack enemy forces.

"Even better! When I start my own school, I'm gonna make sure the kids go through a survival camp! See, what happens is that we're gonna make leaders out of them, so that they'll know how to deal with enemy tactics in war!" the principal that we all know and love yelled as he raced out and shot two men while clobbering one with the butt of the rifle.

"You're still on this bloody idea of a school while we're out here? Vargas! It's war! Pay attention!" Bellischmidt yelled as he, while trying to shout at his erratic friend, decapitated one man while sweeping the floor with three that had come attacking from behind.

"NO! NO! You see it's –ngh! Bloody simple!" the principal hollered while trying to brush off a guy that had grabbed him. "What the kids need is to use their talents-get off me! and hone them to make sure that they get help while it's needed! These ways, when there's war- take that! they'll know how to use them to their best advantage so that they can kill the enemy!"

"Vargas, you clot! This IS WAR! Where's YOUR talent that you can use to YOUR best advantage so that we can KILL THE ENEMY?!" yelled back the blonde men as he kicked a man in his vital regions while sidestepping his arms so that he could shoot at the enemy soldiers that came right at them.

"Hey, come on, Legolas! Don't be so uptight~! I'm only planning ahead! Didn't you always say that I should try that some time?" the brunette gleefully kicked a man and tripping his friend that came running behind him.

"Hm...Maybe I am uptight, Vargas! Do you know why? Because my ally, who was supposed to protect my back on this, keeps engaging me in chit chat during a battle! You're the only idiot that can actually do that!" Bellischmidt retorted as he took out a grenade, removed the pin and threw it at the enemy. A big blast resulted, with a lot of screaming men running away from the area where coincidentally the grenade landed at. Scary.

"Yeah? Well, guess what? I think that this camp is going to be awesome! "The stocky male grinned that cocksure grin while taking out his own grenade." When I start my school, and our children and grandchildren and their children and their children attend it, they're not gonna regret it, Bellischmidt! It's gonna be a time they'll always remember! It's gonna be an explosive time! It's gonna be BOOMZ!"

He removed the pin from the grenade and threw the pin at the enemy, while holding the grenade body in his mouth. This resulted in a confused group of enemy soldiers holding up the pin where it landed and looking back at the defiant Italian, who was holding the tin can like grenade in his mouth.

"Vargas! Get that bloody thing out of your mouth before you yourself go boomz! Why am I talking like some sort of sissy Miss World Pageant Queen? Get it out!"

* * *

This was how the idea for an annual Survival Camp began. Don't worry, Lukas Bellischmidt got the grenade out of the other soldier's mouth, otherwise the other soldier wouldn't had become Principal of Hetalia International as well as a father and then grandfather. Lukas himself became grandfather to two young boys, a young mischievous boy called Gilbert and a more subdued, well-behaved boy called Ludwig. Then again, that's another story.

The survival camp basically had three objectives:

1) Leadership- People that are chosen for the camp would have to be considered leaders in their own field in any way possible. During the Camp, the leaders would be able to lead others by not only recognizing what makes them a leader, but also what makes other people leaders in their field as well. Leaders would also have to see what talents that their other team mates have that they could harness in order to make sure that their team is at full advantage in skills. This means that the leader must be able to plan out his strategies well enough.

2) Communication – The communication between each leader was important as this meant that in any case, the leaders had to keep in close contact with others, in order to co-ordinate talents and make sure that their prowess would be in balance with each other. This also mean that the leader has to learn how to carry his strategies forward to his team and communicate to them well enough that there wouldn't even be a need of sound to dictate what needed to be done. A slight motion of the eyebrows was all they needed.

3) Survival – A week with people you might hate. The trick is to tolerate your teammates so that you might not kill them halfway through. The simplest rule to understand, and yet also the hardest to keep.

And it was obvious by this year's batch of leaders; there might be a strong need for objective no.3 to come in.

* * *

" Alright, so today , since we still have time before dinner, I think we should go and tackle one of the tasks that we have to do for the next few days." Announced Ludwig when Gilbert and Matthew returned from their wood finding trip. There he stood, tall and straight, next to a clinging Feliciano who was sitting down, so he was clinging onto his legs instead.

The other two were more or less slacking and lounging around. Matthew, who was facing Ludwig, was sitting down on the ground , both arms on the log behind him, as he panted and heaved , evidently exhausted from helping to carry wood, or evidently, all the wood they collected, including the dry kindling. Gilbert, who had more or less ordered Matthew around as well as made him carry all the wood, was himself slumped over the rock next to his, having placed little Gilbird on the ground behind the rock and was now at turns poking and stroking it as it cheeped and bounced with every touch of Gilbert's finger. Thus, it was evident that both team "leader" and team "cheerleader" were not really paying attention to the team "assistant" while the other "cheerleader" was supporting, or nearly toppling the assistant by holding him by the knees. Go figure.

Ludwig removed the giant bulky manila envelope from inside his backpack, taking out a pair of glasses and placing them on his nose before continuing his speech. "From what I remember, usually we have at least 3 or four tasks to complete before the week is out, so we might as well see what we have to do."

He unravelled the string while talking, finally opening up the bigger envelope to find four, smaller envelopes inside, all numbered from 1 to 4.

"So basically, we're to take the tasks, from 1 being the easiest of tasks, to 4 being the most difficult." Ludwig murmured as he undid envelope 1 and took out the card. Scanning the details, his face changed slightly, turning paler as his eyes widened. It was fascinating for Matthew to watch. During the short time he had interacted with Ludwig, he had seen his emotions change from stern to slightly exasperated and very embarrassed, but never seen him actually shocked before, He noted that his face when pale and shocked was similar to Gilbert's own normally pale skin and his own surprised face when he heard that Matthew had never went camping before.

Not that he was, you know. Observing Gilbert's facial features. Just that it was fascinating. Very fascinating. To the point that whenever Matthew had a chance, he would turn to look at the man to admire how fascinating his face was.

_Grr...this isn't working...back to Ludwig, back to Ludwig!_

"_This_...this is..." Ludwig closed his eyes and bent down to give the paper to Gilbert, who had looked up to his brother in curiosity. Gilbert, who still looked curious, took the paper and read it. He then smirked." Old man Vargas, you're crazy."

"Ve, what is it, Gilbert?" Feliciano ventured over to Gilbert's left side to view the note over his shoulder. Matthew too scooted over to see it over his right shoulder.

_YoOhOo!!~~_ ヽ (´▽`)/

ｷﾀﾜァ*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･゜(n'∀')ηﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･* !!!!! _ U opened the envelope ! We now all noe that you can open 1! Shows that yr letter opening skills R highly superb! Yayzies!_ d(w)b

_Now, all you have to do is your first task _(`･ω･´)_.We noe you guys brought your own food, which means you guys all love food a lot! But how about finding yr food?_ （´-`）.｡oO( ... ) _ Let's see if you can find your own food in the wild!_ ⊂二二二（　＾ω＾）二⊃ _Whoohoo!! The best is if you can find a wild boar and get him on a spit, like Asterix's village!_ （‐＾▽＾‐）オーホッホ _Then again, I should h8 them_ (╬ ಠ益ಠ) _ , they always defeated the Romans and I always rallied for the Romans_ヽ(ｏ`皿′ｏ)ﾉ_.... but they always had gr8 music!_ ┏(・o･)┛ ┗ ( ･o･) ┓ ┏ ( ) ┛ ┗ (･o･ ) ┓ ┏(･o･)┛ _Yeah, so remember it!!!! _d(w)b and（ ^_^）o自自o（^_^ ）

_ -Principal Vargas._

Matthew blinked. Then he blinked again. _Is the principal usually this silly, or does he make every event this dramatic?_

Gilbert was still smirking as he looked at Matthew's face. "Despite his military background, Principal Vargas is a fun loving guy. He's usually quite serious during work hours, but then again, this isn't really work to him, it's a camp."

"Are you sure his overuse of emoticons is a form of fun?"Matthew muttered back as he surveyed the message again, noting the use of exclamation words and the reference to Asterix. _Is the principal a 2ch fan? Who does that?_

"_Hey_, if it makes him happy..."

Ludwig, who was sitting down and massaging his temples, was muttering "These Vargas people. Where the hell do they come from? Why do they do this all the time?"

Gilbert cackled. "Come on, Ludwig. We Bellischmidt have associated with Vargas people since grandpa's time. Surely you don't mean to say you think all Vargases are troublesome?"

"I...." was that a blush coming onto Ludwig's cheeks?

"Doitsu, am I that troublesome too?" Feliciano inquired as he tilted his head and looked, no, pleaded at him with tears in his eyes. Ludwig turned an even darker shade of red as he tried to come up with an answer.

Matthew cleared his throat, the noise breaking the spell. "Well, so what do we do now then?"

* * *

"What do you mean we actually have to find a boar?" said Matthew as he struggled to drag his feet up from above a muddy patch. In front of him, Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Look, its freakishly simple, milady." said Gilbert as he trudged on ahead. Behind Matthew, Feliciano was being half hoisted by Ludwig as his feet got stuck in a particularly muddy patch. "The whole hint is in the message. The message said," It's best to find a wild boar." That's the whole point behind that message. Find the boar and get him on a spit. So, let's go find a boar, just like those they have in the stories of Asterix!"

"That wasn't the instruction! That was a suggestion! Like a joke!" grumbled Matthew. "Anyway, we didn't all agree that we should go out and find a boar! It was a tied decision! Ludwig and I voted nay to the decision!"

"Hey, we decided to try both ways, right? Ludwig's plan was to go and gather all sorts of plants and fruits that are edible and can be eaten, while mine was to take up the principal's hint about the boar on the spit. Imagine what happens if we get both? It'll be so awesome! And you know why? Because my plan is awesome! I am THE AWESOME! You ALL view me as the AWESOME!" yelled Gilbert, throwing his hands out in a victory position.

"More like I view you in some awe because of your supremistic ego, not because of your awesome." Grumbled Matthew as he followed Gilbert deeper into the forest.

"Doitsu, am I really all that troublesome? Am I? Really? Truly? Absolutely?" Matthew heard the soft voice of Feliciano ask. It sounded as though the young Italian boy had been crying.

"I ...don't think you're troublesome, Feliciano. You give me cookies on a regular basis. That would be sufficient." Came the hesitant gruff reply. Matthew could almost swear that the German boy was blushing.

"But do I make you feel troublesome all the time? I'm so sorry about my family, I mean, Grandpa always say that I should always depend on-"

"QUIET!" Gilbert said suddenly, stopping just as suddenly so that all three of them behind just walked right into him. Gilbird cheeped, upset that the perch he was happily sitting on was unbalanced and Matthew who had been the one closest to Gilbert, got a good faceful of Gilbert's hair and a feel of his back. _Mmm... is it me or does his hair smell like pomegranate...no wonder Gilbird likes his hair....wake up, Matthew, wake up!_

"_Okay_, no need to get all three stooges on awesome old me." Said Gilbert, who had nearly collapsed with the weight of three people on him. Straightening himself, he said ," I just heard some sort of disturbance, it could be some sort of large animal. Maybe it's the boar!"

They all became quiet for awhile, and Matthew said, "Are you sure?"

"It's the awesome you're talking to! Of course I'm right!" said Gilbert as he turned to his brother, motioning him forward. Ludwig, who had a clinging Feliciano on him, forced him to prise his hands off his shirt as he went forward to consolidate with his elder brother. Feliciano, who seemed to need to hang on to someone during situations like this, went forward to hug Matthew instead. The two watched the two brothers as Gilbert who threw an arm around Ludwig's shoulder and leaned in to whisper something to his brother. After a few seconds, Ludwig jerked away from his brother with " Bruder!" but got dragged in by Gilbert as he continued to explain his plan to Ludwig. The taller brother seemed to argue with his brother for the next few minutes, Ludwig waving his hands around while Gilbert seemed to be telling him to relax. Finally, Ludwig slumped his shoulders in exasperation, while Gilbert seemed to pat his shoulder happily, his eyes having had that look of triumph.

_Why do I know that I would not like the look of that?_ Thought Matthew as he and Feliciano looked back on them as the two brothers separated from their discussion huddle and walked back to them, Ludwig looking rather tired and Gilbert looking cocky and confident.

"Okay, so this is the plan!" announced Gilbert as he strode back. "All we need to do is get some bait, and wait for the boar to come over! "

A pause.

"THAT'S YOUR PLAN?!" shouted Matthew. "Your plan is something that we could have done years ago!"

"Of course not." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "That's when Ludwig and I come in. We'll handle the rest."

* * *

So there they were, all four of them, sitting in all four opposite sides of the forest, waiting, just waiting for that boar to come into the clearing that they were currently surrounding.

Gilbert had to admit, while he was the one to come up with the plan, the whole idea of waiting was so stupid. Who ever made the awesome wait for anything? That had to be a travesty.

He turned to his right to see around him.

In the opposite corner, there sat Ludwig, squatting down and holding steady behind a bush, looking tense as he waited for any sound that would alert him to any moment. Facing him, on the opposite side behind the tree was Feliciano, drooling slightly as he leaned against it, lightly snoozing._ That young Italian can sleep anywhere_, thought Gilbert fondly as he registered that Ludwig was also making sure that nothing would bother Feliciano while sleeping. _How sweet of young bruder to take care of my awesome schwager! He's gonna make a wonderful vati to his children and a wonderful lover to Feli- chan!_

_Speaking of lover, that other kid can be so cute sometimes._ Thought Gilbert as he turned to look at the sentry opposite him. Matthew, his violet eyes soft, tried to look stern as he stared pointedly to the middle of the clearing, seemingly focused on that small patch of Maple syrup that was left on the ground._ Look at him, trying to look all stern when really he's just looking cuter than ever. Are his eyes supposed to be that violet? Shit! Focus, Bellischmidt! The boar! Remember, your ass is riding on your success in finding the boar! Then you can gain admiration in your loving fans, including milady- oh I can't get away with at least thinking about him! Why the hell am I even thinking about this situation? Stop thinking! Why the bloody hell is I here again?_

A rustle was then heard, and Gilbert snapped his head back to attention, Ludwig tensing up even more, Feliciano waking up from his nap and Matthew looking around in a slight panic. The rustling got louder, and some branches could be heard cracking before the boar himself came into the open.

* * *

Now, I believe some people have seen what a boar would look like. No, it doesn't look like Pumba from the Lion King. Unfortunately, the boar that the four were right now looking at did not, in the least, look like Pumba.

For one thing, the boar was huge. A hulking grey boar was shuffling forward to examine the golden patch on the ground and Gilbert judged him to be a male boar from its size. The boar had a large body, with shaggy greyish brown fur covering most of its body, giving it a sort of bear like appearance. The snout was covered with tough, wiry hair and the eyes that the fur surrounded were small, and beady, looking shiftily around before descending upon the golden liquid.

The boar had never tasted Maple syrup before. Having lived on this island for so many years, he relied on searching for shoots, plants and occasionally even flowers for food. Sometimes when tourists came onto the island, he managed to sneak away with some of their food and on other times, they offered him food. A girl had once dropped her ham and egg sandwich to offer to the boar and the boar had gladly eaten the sandwich as it had a most unusual taste.

Even so, he had never seen this before. It was a thick, sticky liquid that looked golden and had a sweet scent to the air. The boar licked at the syrupy like ...sweet.

That was when the group pounced.

All four of them came out of the bushes, all facing the boar with different expressions. ( Gilbert with an evil smirk in his smile, his ruby eyes gleaming darkly; Ludwig with a similar expression, but with a more apprehensive look in his eyes; Matthew with a scared , but trying to look brave expression ; and Feliciano, with a confused look on his face that was turning into delight.)The boar himself was looking at them, with eyes that looked similar to Gilbert's red eyes but in actuality he had the same expression as Feliciano as his eyes rose up to meet theirs.

The boar knew he was surrounded, but he had to admit, even he had never seen all these foreign gods before. The only humans he had ever seen before all had similar tanned skin and black eyes and hair. He knew of the human gods before though, as he heard tales of such by his great-grandfather boar. These fellows, especially the silvered haired one with the hunter red eyes were more curious than the other gods would have been, as they were in the company of a Pale God.

Before he could actually consider why a human god would have white hair and red eyes like an albino rabbit, the hunter red eyes had motioned towards the one with bright blue eyes and they both went forward to meet the boar's eyes.

Bright blue and ruby red.

Both pairs of eyes locked into his.

And continued.

For the next few minutes, that was all the two humans did.

"Erm, can I at least ask, what are you two doing?" that was from the blonde with the large violet eyes.

"Shut up, we're gonna stare into his eyes until his heart bursts." Was the reply RubyRed gave.

The boar himself had no idea why RubyRed man thought that it was a great idea himself. As a boar, even he found that idea stupid.

Evidently Violet Eyes thought so as well. "WHADDYA MEAN "STARE INTO HIS EYES UNTIL HIS HEART BURSTS?'"

Ruby red was still focusing on his eyes." Well, someone told me once that this would work, something about how in his country , there was a military group actually dedicated to this type of work where they would stare at goats until their hearts spontaneously bursts and they die! Since I'm as awesome, I thought I can do it as well! And Ludwig has my blood; therefore, he's kind of awesome as well! I'm sorry if I didn't get you two to do it and you got mad because of that."

Bright blue seemed to be looking towards the boar now and meeting his eyes, a sort of silent communication passing between them. Bright Blue seemed to say _I'm so sorry for my brother_. Beady black, which stared back, replied _Are human gods really this stupid?_

Violet eyes seemed to think so "What kind of person does that, eh? Who on earth gave you such a stupid idea?"

* * *

Meanwhile:

"Alfred, what are you doing?"

"Artie, this is a great idea! All we do is stare this chicken down until his heart bursts! I got that in a movie!"

* * *

Back to Team Awesome:

Golden brown eyes seemed to glance at the boar with a happy look in its eyes, "Come on, Doitsu! Isn't this boar so cute! Let me give you a hug!" saying this, Golden Brown ran towards the boar and threw his hands around the boar's neck.

The boar, which had never been given a hug before, had to admit that Golden Brown was the one he liked the most. Just like the golden liquid in front of him. Yummy, sweet golden brown liquid.

Bright Blue broke his stare from the boar and went to Golden Brown's side, his eyes looking more relaxed as he too gave the boar a pat on the head. Hm...Bright Blue doesn't seem so bad.

Ruby Red, on the other hand, was still arguing with Violet Eyes. "Hey, all my ideas are awesome, okay? "

Violet, which on the first glance looked delicate, was now shouting "This was the idea you came up with? What kind of person thinks that way? And here I actually thought you had a real plan! I actually was convinced you had a real plan!"

The boar had to admit, this was much better entertainment than he ever had in years while living in the forest.

"Hey, Milady, I would like to inform you that this itself was a superb plan!"

The boar knew he actually wanted to sit and continue watching this scene. However, he also knew that he had to get back soon before his family got curious and wondered what happened to him. He shuffled out of his position and out of Golden Brown's grasp, turning around to shuffle back into the forest.

"Bye bye, Mr Boar!" Golden Brown to shout as the boar shuffled back into the bushes. Violet seemed to still be arguing with Ruby Red and both did not notice the boar's exit out of the scene.

The boar walked back, trotting on his legs. What a great day. He got to try some golden liquid, he escaped being killed off and made into prey, he got to watch jolly entertainment and he was given a hug. What a tale that he would tell the later generations of boars! Though he had to admit, the words of his Great Grandfather who had lived in the forest and had picked up some of the language of the local people still rang true. These ang mohs are gila!

---------------

"Okay, great, no boar, so now what?"

"Sigh...why not we try my way, bruder?"

---------------

"Wow, this fish is delicious!" exclaimed Feliciano as he nibbled on his portion of fish. Across from him, Matthew nodded in agreement.

Team Awesome, after the defeat with the boar, decided that it was a good idea to resort to the usual survival ways of catching and grilling fish. All four of them went fishing as well as gathering edible fruits and plants and collected enough for the week. Feliciano surprised everyone else by catching the biggest fish among the four.

And that was what they were eating that night. Feliciano's fish, supplemented by some spices Feliciano brought, and a pot of pasta. Feliciano insisted on making everyone some pasta to go with the fish and the result was...unnaturally satisfying.

Matthew as well supplemented some pancake mix and whipped up pancakes, two for each of them. That was their dessert.

"Yes, I do admit that the fish we caught was more than sufficient for our needs "Murmured Ludwig as he broke off a segment of his fruit and chewed a little more. He grimaced slightly, and said," Although the fruits need a little more work."

Gilbert, who was still sulking at his seat, moodily chewed on his portion of fish and twirled his pasta on his fork.

Matthew, who saw this, sighed inwardly. _I guess I didn't need to be so harsh with him. He did genuinely think that the boar staring suggestion was a good one. I wonder who the person that gave him the idea was. Ah well, I might as well apologize._

Matthew scooted over to Gilbert's side and cleared his throat. Across from them, Ludwig, who noticed, coughed in embarrassment and dragged Feliciano off to the tents, saying something about finding water.

"Gilbert, I...erm...didn't mean to yell at you that much about the boar situation. I mean...That idea was dumb, but I know that you were at least seriously thinking about the food situation. I erm...overreacted."

The pale face looked up from his pasta in shock. Then grinned.

"You know, if you liked me that badly, you should apologize more often. I feel more awesome that way."

"W-what?"

Gilbert grinned, "Yeah, I mean, you wanted me, so you said sorry, cause no matter what, and you still think I'm awesome. And so I humbly take your apology and know you wouldn't do it again."

The penny dropped. Matthew looked up at Gilbert, violet eyes meeting ruby red. Then he too grinned.

"Of course, I totally forgot that I should never have offended your highness in the first place."

Gilbert smirked himself, and said "Of course. Now hand me another one of those pancakes. Those are fucking delicious."

* * *

Ludwig and Feliciano, who were standing behind the tents, were in shock.

"Did bruder –"

" Uhhuh! Doitsu! He said Matthew's pancakes are delicious! He never says that about other people's pancakes before!"

"Wait...he did say that before....oh wait...that was his own pancakes he was referring to. This is...wow... "

"Uhuh!"

"Oh, erm...Feliciano?"

"Ve?"

"I never said you were troublesome."

"I know. You know, we should make pasta more often! I brought a whole week's supply!"

"And you didn't tell us this earlier?!"

" Uhuhu! You never asked!"

-------------

Meanwhile:

"Alfred, I must admit, this chicken is delicious! Where did you get this from?"

"Why thank you, sir. I erm...just _looked_ for it."

* * *

**Author's notes: Incidently, I went to Pulau Ubin once. I was also the one who dropped the sandwich in front of the boar .Embarassing much?**

**Okay, notes: Schwager mean brother in law in German and Bruder is brother in German. Vati is father. Ang moh is Dialect Chinese for western foreigner and gila is malay for crazy. The boar is reminiscent of Obelix in the Asterix cartoon when he goes ," These romans are crazy!"**

**This Chapter is a parody of the book " The Men Who Stare at Goats" I bought the book over the weekend and was both laughing and feeling disturbed at the antics of the soldiers. **

**The earlier introduction of how the camp started is to also explain the relationship between Principal Vargas and Lukas Bellischmidt, so that would be taken into reference in later chapters.**

**Principal Vargas's note is courtesy of Wikipedia, who helped me with stuff like that. The full list of 2ch emoticons are there.**

**Yayzies! Chapter 4 is done! So far, this was a bit of a difficult chapter to write for, especially since so many distractions came up. I hope the other chapters would be better.**


	5. Sometimes, WWE Makes Good TV

**Chapter 5: Sometimes, WWE makes good TV**

After the Boar Staring Incident, it was evident that the relations between all team mates had become relatively nicer. It was obviously to two of the team mates that the other two were falling for each other and it was also oblivious to them that they too were falling in love as well. It didn't really matter which pair it was that thought that way, but it was rather fun for any audience members to watch the situation and snigger their way through the entire time. After all, it didn't matter which pair it was , in the end both pairs would had fallen through the cracks into the spiralling waterspout that was Love and gone round and round until they would have become so dizzy and sick they would have needed a spatula to get out of it.

Okay, let's quit the so unawesome and clichéd stuff and let's get the challenge today on the road!

---------------

"Ve~! Its day two! I wonder what we are going to do. Hey, that rhymes, Uhuhu!" Chirped a young Italian as he started bouncing up and down.

Gilbert groaned and tried to burrow deeper into his sleeping bag. Matthew rolled over and muttered something in French, while Ludwig, who had woke up at the same time as Feliciano, was fully dressed and now boiling hot water over the campfire, trying to get a good fire going to make coffee. A tiny Gilbird was cheeping sleepily as he woke up and a giant Kumajiro was trying to get Matthew up by nudging him with his nose and thrusting a paw out to whack his owner on the face.

The whack was what had finally made Matthew get up. He rolled over and sat up, wiping his eyes blearily as he placed a hand on Kumajiro head and scratched behind his ears, going " Sometimes I don't even know why I keep you around..."

"Who?"

"Canada, the guy who feeds you." Sighed Matthew, going forth to pick up his glasses and place them on his nose.

"Oh. Breakfast?"

"Alright, I'm up."

Once Matthew was up, and doling out biscuits for the young bear, he greeted his other teammates (sans Gilbert, who was still in his sleeping bag) and went to wash up and answer the call of nature. Of course, he managed to bring with him a roll of toilet paper as he went, not willing to actually use leaves like they do in the stories.

After doing his morning business and getting cleaned, Matthew returned back to base camp so that he could get his PE kit on. Apparently, the second task, as Ludwig had said in his debrief the night before, was always a physical based task, so it was important that they wear their PE kits and actually do some morning jogs to warm up before the task. To be frank, Matthew thought it was a bit out of point, considering the fact that they did not even know what the physical task was, but as it was Ludwig, who seemed fit and strong and very scary if defied, Matthew decided to make the most of it while they could. Besides, it would be better than the actual task, which, if judging by what had happened so far, could only get worse.

He really should have considered adding the morning exercise into the events as well.

* * *

"Go faster; what do you think this is the holiday resort? Move faster! Matthew, stop dawdling down there! Fill up the gaps! Feliciano! Do you want me to come down there and carry you to the finishing point? Come on! Even my grandmother can run faster! That includes you too, Matthew! "

Matthew muttered, "Why not ask your grandmother to run here then?" as he ran exhaustedly after the two tall teammates. Behind him was Feliciano, barely even jogging that it was more of a walk with a slight bounce in it to distinguish it from his normal walking. Both of them had more or less been chasing after the other two males as they had jogged through a path led by Ludwig and Gilbert. And it was also very obvious as to which ones were the fittest ones.

"Hey, West, I don't get it; I'm awesome as it is! I don't need this exercise! Why am I doing this then? Besides, the other two are not even up to my awesome standard!" said Gilbert as he and Ludwig easily out jogged the pack.

Ludwig rolled his eyes as he jogged." Bruder, you're in the team, and besides, it's not as though you can't run." He turned his head as he shouted back. "If you guys don't reach the tree, touch it and race back, you'll have to do push ups! 20 of them!"

"Aw...Ludwig, don't say that...I ...hate...running....ve~....oxygen...can't breathe.....go on ....without me....will....in front pocket....."Feliciano said, gasping for breath every few minutes while closing to a dramatic stop, knees collapsing, body face down on the ground with a hand up as if the signal defeat.

Ludwig jogged back to check up on the fallen soldier while Matthew and Gilbert stopped, glad to have a temporary respite to the jog.

" I don't get it, how is it that this guy can dribble a soccer ball and shoot it towards a goal for more than ten times, but cannot run 10 meters to save his life?" said Gilbert as he watched a fainting Feliciano wave his hands as though he could see someone in the distant horizon.

"He's in Sports?"

"He's Co-Soccer Captain along with Ludwig."

"Oh dear."

"Feliciano, get a hold of yourself! You're not gonna die!"

"I see....I see Elvis...."

* * *

They managed to revive Feliciano after awhile by splashing some water on him.

"Oh mi dios! I am alive!"

Cue the rolling of eyes from Ludwig as he took the bottle away while Gilbert and Matthew looked on behind him. Feliciano was sobbing as he grabbed onto Ludwig

(Incidentally, they did manage to find a will in the front pocket of Feliciano's bag. Apparently Feliciano , who was of sound mind and health when it was written, had left every packet of pasta, recipe book, cooking utensil and bag of tomatoes to be split between his grandfather , twin brother Lovino and big brother Antonio. Roderich was awarded Feliciano's Calculator and math book to remind him of the teacher's tutoring the boy in math while Ludwig was given full access to take anything he wanted in Feliciano's room "except for that giant kitty plushie, which would be buried next to him and remain buried for all eternity unless the aliens unearth my body, in which case it would be given under the care of Ludwig or his descendants."Somehow Gilbert felt that it might be a good idea to do so, because he had no idea who to give those two giant panda plushies that he had in his room. )

Ludwig stood up and took a swig from the water himself, wiping his mouth as soon as he was done. He turned to his other team mates and said, "That would be all for today's training. Take a break for 10 minutes and then come back here. We'll start our second task then."

They all separated and walked off, and Matthew decided to get some water himself. He went to find his water flask and check on Kumajiro, who he gathered should still be at the campsite.

Gilbert joined him from behind, following him back to their campsite." Hahaha, I see you're not up to my standard when it comes to sports! I see that your stamina for running is ever so lame compared to my awesome way of maintaining long distances!" Then again, mused Gilbert in his mind, that didn't detract in any way from the blonde's physique, considering the fact that he looked to have strong legs and seemed to have a slight more build in his upper torso than he would expect from him. When a voice in his head drily asked what he was doing imagining the boy's physique in that matter, Gilbert decided that it would be safer if he didn't answer that question. It didn't help that the voice resembled that of Roderich in his humourless moods.

The blonde smiled up at him and Gilbert was reminded that he shouldn't look at him when he was smiling. That curve in his lips sort of made his heart become tighter than usual...shut up, the boy was talking! Pay attention!

"...so I guess running is not like hockey....I mean, usually in hockey we glide on the ice, and I'm not really used to pounding on the road."

Gilbert, who sort of caught the last few parts and correctly deduced what Matthew was saying, quickly nodded and said, "Oh, right."

Matthew looked at him and said, "Besides, it not as though all of us can meet up to your ...awesome standard can't we? Considering that you are the King of Awesome."

"Ahahahaha, of course! Don't you know that my real name is actual King Gilbert of the Royal Bellischmidt Family?" crowed Gilbert as he struck a pose, sticking out his chest and puffing it up.

Matthew scoffed, as though he did not believe it.

Hm...He actually sees through all my bullshit, but he sees no qualms in actually squashing my delusional thoughts. Nice touch, milady. What I've expected of you, and more. Not too bad.

* * *

⊂（ﾟДﾟ⊂⌒｀つ≡≡≡(´⌒;;;≡≡≡ Hiee~!!! I came sliding in on my belly!

It's me again ,I came !*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･゜(n'∀')ηﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*!!!!! Ahahahaha.....yayzies! I love that word, yayzies, it's a new word I came up with, and so it belongs to me, the principal, the principal's, okay?

Okay, Now I know you're all friendly with each other, almost like you're all holding hands and singing Kumbaya together ヽ(´ー`)人(´

｀)人(`Д´)ノ. But nothing can stay like that, so we're going to test your strength today!

It's gonna be a duel! Like a Gladiator's duel! Whoohoo!

So all of you gotta fight to the death! And I want photos! And a video camera! Yayzies!

* * *

"While I am glad that he has reduced the amount of emoticons, I wish he wouldn't come up with all these weird tasks for us to do. And for that matter, what's with the obsession over whether "yayzies "belongs to him?" grumbled Matthew as he re-read the note. Gilbert was shaking with laughter while a much stressed Ludwig sat with his head in his hands, a comforting Feliciano at his side.

"Doitsu? Are you okay? Do you want a cookie?" asked the Italian boy as he tried to pat his shoulder.

Ludwig made a noise that could have resembled either "why? "Or "I need a drink." In both cases, it would actually be appropriate. Feliciano slipped a cookie into his hands.

Matthew, who was watching the scene, wondered if it was possible for him to get a cookie as well. He needed the comfort, especially from what he had to do so early in the morning, the stress from the principal's new note and the fact that the mention of the word cookie made him remember his mother in Canada, who often made cookies for Matthew and regularly sent them overseas to Alfred. The house in Canada at times resembled a bakery, what with the amount of cookies, brownies and cakes that regularly came out of the oven, but then again, Matthew loved the smell and sight of such as it comforted him and made him feel like it was home.

And now the word and sight of the cookie made him homesick.

He then remembered the note, and grimaced. Did they really have to fight each other? The note said that it was compulsory and that he wanted photos and a video. So he'd have to participate....

But the general rule was, in Matthew's case, that he was the shy twin, the one who didn't like to be dragged out to the middle of nowhere, the one who didn't like being under the hot sun, the one who didn't like to run in the mornings.....hell, now that he thought about it, he was the twin that hated hot, humid countries, who hated sleeping outside and also doing ridiculous things such as fighting with his fellow friends like some sort of gang fight!

This was, unfortunately, everything he was being forced to do now. Oh sweet irony. Where was Alfred when he needed a twin swap?

"Okay, listen up, bruder and I have worked out the details of the fight, so get over here so that we can brief you on the rules." Said Ludwig as Gilbert set up the video camera on its tripod. "What happens is that each of us of fights each other, so everyone would fight each other once." Ludwig picked up the enveloped which had the fight schedule and showed it to the other two team mates. Feliciano seemed to still be grinning, but Matthew looked at the list in some apprehension. In a careless scrawl that could not have fitted Ludwig's own neat nature, the list stated:

_**Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions vs. Ludwig the Mercenary**_

_**The Godfather Feliciano vs. Matthew? **_

_**Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions vs. Matthew?**_

_**The Godfather Feliciano vs. Ludwig the Mercenary **_

_**Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions vs. The Godfather Feliciano **_

_**Ludwig the Mercenary vs. Matthew? **_

Matthew felt like that guy who had gone to a pet shop to buy a parrot, only to find out that the parrot was dead.

"Why- what- HUH?"

Gilbert grinned. "I wrote that list myself! See, as me, if I were fighting, I would want a stage name, so obviously, I would take something that would show how Awesome, how fantabulous, how cool I would be, so I chose this name! Ludwig's a stick in the mud, but he's still my brother, so he gets one too! And since you and Feliciano are my teammates, it's totally awesome that you guys get the same treatment as well! Because you're in my team, and we're Team Awesome! Why? Because I'm AWESEOME!"

Matthew spluttered, "That's not the problem! Why do you want stage names for us? We're not WWE wrestlers! And it's such a ridiculous name! "

"Ve~! I'm a Godfather? Like a Mafia kind of guy? Yay! Can I get a trench coat and a gun and a fedora and ten armed men and gelato and pasta and tomatoes and have everyone call me _Signor __Capofamiglia _and get doughnuts and have everyone address me as Don Feliciano and get loads and loads and loads of pizza and stuff? Ve~! _Fratello _ Lovino would be so pleased and Antonio would be so happy for me!Ve~! I have now got so much Italian Spirit! Patta patta patta patta patta patta patta...~!"

"Feliciano , stop waving that flag around. Bruder, why mercenary? Please don't come up with all these weird names and cause other people trouble ."

" Kesesesese! West , you don't understand the delicacy of the matter! As a leader, everything has to be considered when it comes to making and carrying out decisions! Every detail counts, so thus, when we fight, they have to have professional stage names so that it would incur more excitement for the people. " He spread his hands , using one hand to motion for each word " The Conqueror of Vital Regions has Conquered Burzenland!" he said, intoning the words much like a newspaper front page headlines.

" Ve~? Matthew doesn't have an awesome name like the rest of us...." said Feliciano slowly as he registered the question mark next to his name. He turned to look at Matthew and Matthew flinched: the other boy's eyes were big and tear-filled, almost a lot like a puppy's.

" H-hey, don't cry, Feli, It's okay, I don't need a name...I think Matthew ? is okay..." Matthew said as he went forward to comfort the crying Feliciano.

"Oh no, you made Feliciano cry!" shouted Gilbert as pointed a finger at the cringing Matthew. " That is so not awesome! Now hurry up, cheer him up by coming up with an awesome stage name!"

" But- I..."

" Ve~! I know! Matthew, tell us what do you like to do?" the suddenly chirpy Feliciano sprang up to face Matthew.

"Erm...I look after Kumajiro, I play Hockey and I also like to read-"

" Oh! I know! How about Matthew, the Professor!" Feliciano cut off as he went to the list to cancel Matthew ? to write Matthew, The Professor.

"The-the what?"

" Nah, that is so not awesome!The Professor? That's such a sissy name!" Gilbert grabbed the envelope and tried to cancel out the Professor .

Ludwig cleared his throat and from his rumbly voice came," How about Matthew, The Hockey Player?"

" Wait, I don't want to-"

" West, I don't really think that that would be a name that would be exciting to the crowd....ooh! I know! Matthew the Bear Wrestler! On account of that bear and all!"

Now this was getting slightly out of hand.

"Sorry, but I don't wrestle with bears, besides Alfred does that more often...."

" Bruder , why not get something that might be better than that?" interrupted Ludwig .

" Hm.....hockey......hockey mask.......ooh! I know! We'll call you Matthew 13! See, cause of the Friday the 13th guy and the fact that you can be like an assassin! Like Gorilla 13, Sougo 13 and Mayora 13!" said Gilbert as he grabbed the pen .

" Bruder, you've gotta stop watching that anime....it's giving you weird ideas everyday..." said Ludwig as he watched his brother scribble Matthew 13 next to the cancelled out names.

Matthew sighed. Though he had to admit, Matthew 13 wasn't as flashy as the other names and he did like Friday the 13th movies.....

* * *

"VE~! All right there, everybody! It's me , your announcer for this match, The Godfather Feliciano, who would be covering this match for everyone to see!"

Feliciano was facing the video camera as he held up a water bottle like a microphone while Matthew , standing next to him , holding his own water bottle in a similar way . The other two who were participating in the match , Ludwig and Gilbert were actually exercising and warming up, with Gilbert trying to find his "mascot" Gilbird and kissing it on the head, while Ludwig was chewing on a chocolate chip cookie in determination.

" Erm- Yes, and I'm the co-host for the first match, Matthew Williams-"

"No , Matthew, you gotta say your stage name too!" Feliciano cupped his hand and said in a stage whisper, in which case was loud enough to be caught on the camera. Matthew sighed and resigned himself .

" My apologies, I'm Matthew 13 , the other TV announcer who would be covering the match today. I hope that you would enjoy today's match , for I believe that would be exciting."

"Ve~! Of course! We even have a special appearance by a special guest...whom we all know as THE ROCK!"

"E-eh? We have him?"

" Of course ! Here he is....the ROCK!"

"Erm....That IS a rock....."

" I know! So anyway, let's interview the participants for today's fight....and I can see the first one coming in, and it seems to be .....Doitsu! Erm...I mean Ludwig the Mercenary.! Ve~! It's so hard to remember these names!"Sure enough, Ludwig was walking towards the camera, stopping when he saw the waving boy and his co-host. Feliciano threw himself into Ludwig's arms and gave him a giant hug, while Ludwig blushed slightly and hugged back. Matthew, whose heart was going gooey over the scene in front of him, nevertheless still felt very awkward and had to clear his throat to get their attention.

" Yeah, so Ludwig, a moment please? Tell us what you want to achieve in today's fight?"

" Oh, erm...hi, I am Ludwig , and I hope that no matter who wins, we would at least know that we would all do well in anything we do. "

"Yay, Doitsu, I mean Ludwig the Mercenary! Good luck for the first match!"yelled Feliciano as he gave one of his usual sunny smiles to Ludwig. Ludwig himself smiled, a small one , and raised a hand to ruffle the other boy's hair.

" You too, Feliciano, stay out of trouble."

" Hehehe, stopping ruffling my head, it tickles!"went the giggling boy .

" Well, thank you for the first word , Ludwig the mercenary, and I hope you as well do okay. And I see his opponent coming up on the rear, and it's the Conqueror of Vital Regions, Gilbert-"

" Miladay!Remember to address me as THE AWESOME Gilbert along with my title! And try to add in music at the end of my name as well!"said THE AWESOME Gilbert ( ta –da-da-dah!) as he strutted down an imaginary catwalk where he stopped next to the two hosts, posed and preened in front of the camera, as though he expected Tyra Banks and her friend Ms J. Alexander to scream and holler , " You go girl!"

" Ve~! THE AWESOME Gilbert looks so cool now! Marry me!"

" Kesesese!Feliciano, I'm flattered , but I don't want my chicks to get jealous!"chuckled said THE AWESOME as he turned and smirked at Matthew, giving him a roguish wink. Matthew blushed, suddenly feeling hot and decided to continue his speech.

" Erm...yes, so Gil- I mean THE AWESOME Gilbert ( ta-da-da-dah), tell us what do you hope to achieve in today's games?"

" I've got something to say to my opponent The Mercenary! A few weeks ago, he told me that if I , THE AWESOME , did not clean up my room, he would set his own dogs on me! And I want him to know, that as his brother, I am OLDER, I am TOUGHER and I am MORE AWESOME than he can EVER BE! So today, I'm not gonna fight for revenge, the awesome is too generous for that. But I will make sure that after today, the MERCENARY WOULD LEARN TO RESPECT HIS ELDERS, so that he would learn not to order me around! My little bro is going to learn some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.!"

" Bruder, I'm standing right here, you know. I can hear everything you say. And stop stealing Feliciano, he's not some puppy you can play with." And in a low mutter that would lead Ludwig to deny anything until presented with evidence "And if you do anything to Feliciano, I will make sure you do clean your room every day."

Gilbert smirked, and retaliated with ," Well, try and stop me tonight at the arena, where the both of us would have the showdown of a lifetime!"

Matthew, who felt very weird to be in such a situation, decided that Ludwig had to be a saint to be able to tolerate his more interesting, but very annoying older brother.

"Ve~! So, Matthew 13! Since the opponents are getting ready, let's explain the rules of the game to the people at home, shall we?"

" Okay, so basically, what happens is that every team member would fight each other once so that everyone gets a fair share. A win for an individual in 10 points every win, so the maximum they can win is 30 points. Every game would last as long as it can , provided it doesn't get too long, and if no winner is particularly evident in the fight after 15 min, it would be considered a tie and both players win 10 points. If the player forfeits of gives up half way, the points automatically go to the opponent that he was supposed to fight. The winner would be declared if someone can be pinned for more than 10 counts, thus rendering the one pinning the winner."

"Ve~! That so much to remember! I want to go and take my siesta now....."

* * *

_**Gilbert , Conqueror Of Vital Regions vs. Ludwig the Mercenary**_

Ludwig and Gilbert, both dressed in a P.E. shirt and shorts, faced each other, a smirk on Gilbert's face, and a more serious determined look on Ludwig's own. It was obvious to any outsider that they both were determined not to lose, though they would anything they could to make sure the other did lose.

" West! This is just like old times, remember?" shouted Gilbert from the other side of the arena as Ludwig shook all tightness from his wrists and hands . He remembered the times back in Germany when he had played hide and seek with his baby brother and would always sneak up behind his brother and grab him, Ludwig having always reacted with lots of giggles and laughs, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. The both would end up on the ground, with Gilbert tickling his little brother while Ludwig would laugh/cry/nearly stop breathing from the tickles. When they grew older, Gilbert was the one that taught Ludwig how to defend himself and the weak points in the human body that was easy to manipulate and use to their advantage, often spending time to demonstrate moves to his younger brother. His younger brother had evidently learnt well, judging by the fact that no one dared to mess with him when in school or when outside, but this would be the first fight between them for years.

Ludwig himself gave a rare smirk that mirrored and looked identical to Gilbert's own, clearly remembering those days as well. " Yeap, and guess what , old man? You're going down."

" Loser has to clean each other's room and call the other person " sama " for a whole month."

"You're on!"

With that , they ran and grabbed each other, pushing against each other. Gold against Silver, almost like Day versus Night, Sun Fighting Moon.

Matthew, watching from the side lines along with Feliciano who seemed to be eating popcorn ( where did he get popcorn from?)while holding banner that said " The Mercenary Is The Wurst!"Not sure if the banner was meant to be like that or Feliciano had spelt "worst" wrongly, Matthew continued to watch the match, hugging his bear on his lap .

He had never been to sports matches before, except for hockey matches, and the only thing he knew about wrestling were those times Alfred had spent watching WWE slamdowns on the television whenever Matthew came over to Los Angeles for the holidays. He had spent some time watching some himself and thought the whole drama, the cockiness that seemed to be more prevalent instead of the fight itself was a bit trifling and rather childish. Alfred, who had shared different ideas about wrestling, watched the drama with large shining eyes and declared that one day, he would be like those guys " dispensing justice everywhere". Sometimes, Alfred had the mentality of a naive 6 year old.

However. Matthew , after watching the first few seconds of the match, decided it would be rather interesting to continue watching.

Not only did both brothers throw themselves readily into the match, but both were actually quite good in the fighting business. Ludwig's bulkier build tended to mean that he had more strength and could restrain Gilbert easily, but Gilbert's slighter , lighter build was made for fast ducking. On the other hand ,while Gilbert had more experience attacking and ducking, Ludwig had youth and passion running through him to make up for it. All in all it was a sort of dance and Matthew was at the edge of his seat, watching the entire thing. Occasionally, it seemed as though Gilbert had managed to pin his brother down but Ludwig had managed to get away after 4 counts and was continuing his assault on Gilbert. Gilbert had thrown him down, but Ludwig had managed to grabbed him by the ankles and trip him. All in all, a rather exciting match. In fact, Ludwig's face had acquired a strange look to it, not like his usual stern, emotionless self. It was frighteningly similar to Gilbert's own face.

Feliciano was glancing at the little stopwatch he had and said," It's been ten minutes. Are they still fighting?"

Matthew looked up to the stop watch . Feliciano was wrong. It was at least 14 minutes. And there was still no apparent winner. He turned just to see Gilbert attempt to get up by using his hands to jump up, but only succeeded in kicking Ludwig by his knees. Ludwig growled , and started to push back against the elder man. Neither was resisting, and it would be long before anybody would actually fall over.

" And...Time!" shouted Matthew as he stopped the clock. Both Ludwig and Gilbert stopped pushing against each other, but it was obvious both looked slightly unhappy.

"Whaddya mean " time?" It's not over! We need one of us to call the other "Sama" for a month! And we haven't found one yet!" This was of course Gilbert, the grumpier one.

" To be frank, I'm fine with this decision." Said Ludwig, as he tried to brush off the dirt off his P.E. shirt. His face had lost some of that Gilbertness and was returning back to plain Ludwig. Which, the author would like to point out, needs a " thank god" sort of plea. Because a Gilbert-like Ludwig is just so not awesome.

"Whaddya mean? You just want to get out of calling your brother " sama!" That is of course, not awesome!"

_**Result of the match = Tie. Ludwig the Mercenary : 10, Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions : 10**_

_

* * *

_

" So after a discussion where THE AWESOME Conqueror of Vital Regions decided to stop arguing with the decision made NOT BECAUSE he lost, we are now on to the next match between our next two contenders..." a sulky Gilbert was heard saying as he spoke into the video camera, grumpily holding the water bottle Matthew himself was earlier holding. Ludwig was holding on to Feliciano's one, both brothers having taken on the roles as hosts while the other two started to prepare for their match. Interestingly , this included crouching in a corner and rocking to and fro while hugging a giant white bear for one, while the other was happily choosing which one of his white flags he should use during the match.

Ludwig nodded and said, " Yes, we are now preparing for the next match between two contenders which we have no idea about. I hope that they would both be able to do their best for the next match and for the subsequent matches between other people."

"Yeah yeah, and I'll become less awesome by the day. Come on! They'll have to kill each other! And by the way, even though you didn't lose to me, you'll still have to call me " sama", you know that?"

" Please , bruder, stop watching any more of those Japanese anime that Kiku keeps sending us. I swear, you're adopting more of their mannerisms by the day. And it's not even the good type of mannerisms..."

" Whatever, anime is awesome! Especially that 5 min anime about the different countries. That Prussia guy was so cool!"

* * *

_**Matthew 13 vs. The Godfather Feliciano.**_

" Ve~! It's Matthew ! Hi Matthew, I'm scared of you but I'll try to fight, okay?" shouted the brunette Italian as he waved his arms across from him. At the sidelines, Ludwig had his head in his hands while Gilbert was catcalling chants.

" Erm, okay! I will do my best, Feliciano!" yelled back Matthew as he took up his position at the opposite side of the arena. While he hated fighting, he also did not want to show that he was a coward in front of the two brothers, especially the elder one who had fought valiantly despite his younger brother's bigger size and strength. He wanted to be like him, and fight on till the end. Thus, Matthew tried to put aside his hate of fighting, his fear of getting hurt, his shyness and his concern over hurting Feliciano , so that he could be more like Gilbert.

Ludwig watched this scene sternly, and only Gilbert could notice the look of concern in his eye as he watched Feliciano, still grinning happily. Earlier, when Ludwig approached the boy to wish him good luck and that he wouldn't get hurt, the boy had enthusiastically said not to worry, that he had a secret strategy that would make sure he wouldn't get hurt. He could only hope that the strategy would actually work, if not he himself would have to step in.

He got the stop watch out , reset the time and shouted

" And......START!"

Matthew took one step forward.

"VE~! " Feliciano took out a white flag from god knows where and started waving it, shouting " I surrender!"

Eh?

Matthew, shocked at the reaction , felt as though he was sort of cheated from what he had expected and was now standing stock still, mouth opened slightly. Gilbert was grinning at the sidelines, partly because of reliable old Feliciano, who had done what he usually did in such confrontations, and partly also at Matthew's adorable shocked expression. Ludwig sighed and put his head in his arms. While his wish had been granted, it was granted in the most weirdest of ways, and he was exasperated at the young Italian, though also glad that he was not hurt. All in all, there was also a bubbling feeling flowing up from his throat, which when it finally revealed itself, was laughter, from either amusement or relief, no one was sure.

Thus , Ludwig, with such complexity of feelings and thoughts, won the " Most Complex Character who Never had the Emotional Range of a Teaspoon." Award.

_**Results of the Match: Feliciano forfeited, Matthew gets in by default. The Godfather Feliciano: 0. Matthew 13: 10**_

_

* * *

_

_**Author's Notes:How would Matthew's fight with Gilbert be like? And who would win the crown of "WWE Hetalia style"? You'll find out...In the next chapter!**_

_**I wouldn't mind actually receiving one of Principal Vargas's notes...**_

_**Personally, I love WWE and used to watch it at midnight when i had nothing much to do. Gilbert's a bit of a fan of WWE , especially with Hulk Hogan, though he hasn't seen WWE for a long while....thus, you can see why his speech is very WWE style...to think that he'll want to fight because Ludwig told him to clean his room....**_

_**By the way, what Ludwig is shouting is actually based on the real shouts that the Singapore Army soldiers shout at while they're trying to get their soldiers to move faster. The move " run over to that tree over there, touch it and run back" trick is actually used by them and they have to do that at least 10 times. It makes for a wonderful cartoon .**_

_**I originally wanted to write one long chapter for this, but because of the fact that it was going a bit overboard , I split it into two chapters. Which means that chapter 6 will come in a few days, no biggie.**_

_**Gilbert's a big fan of anime, since Kiku introduced it to him. He's been watching Gintama ( which is where he got the names Gorilla 13, Sougo 13, and Mayora 13) and actually watched Inuyasha , until he realised how sucky the ending was and refused to watch it again. He's gonna watch the Final Act that shows the true ending though and has forgiven Inuyasha for doing something that stupid. He 's also fixated on the idea of being called "Ore-sama " and how similar it is to " Awesome." And he's also watching this particular anime which is about the personified countries and he actually relates to them, often saying that Ludwig was a regular "Germany" and that Roderich's a bit like an uptight Austria . He himself calls the country Prussia awesome and writes to the Creator of the anime every day to tell him to put more of Prussia in the anime......Ludwig's a tad stressed about it and has told Kiku to try and not convert Gilbert into becoming an Otaku. Kiku replied that he'd think about it.**_

**_Feli can't run when he doesn't have a soccer ball in front of him. Shame , really._**

**_Review! and I'll add in chapter 6 earlier! hahahahahahhah!_**


	6. The Rise of Matthew Williams

**Chapter 6: The Rise of Matthew Williams ... And Fall of Gilbert Bellischmidt**

After Ludwig went off to the corner to talk to Feliciano over his recent forfeit, Gilbert and Matthew were left sitting there for ten minutes. Both didn't really say anything, but they both knew what was coming up next. The next match between them would be in a few minutes. And Matthew and Gilbert were feeling slightly awkward over the idea that they would be touching with so much _contact_ with one another.

Gilbert, being Gilbert, spoke first. "So, Milady, are you ready to let THE AWESOME invade your vital regions?"

Matthew blushed, but retorted. "I won't let you do that! My vital regions are my own! "Did he just use the term "vital regions "himself? How embarrassing. He didn't even know what that even referred to.

Gilbert smirked," Are you sure?" begins to scoot closer over to the younger blonde, who was beginning to turn a deeper red.

"Erm...gee-get away!"

Gilbert wouldn't get away and he let his voice get down to a lower, sultry tone. "You know...we're gonna be next, and let me just say, I might go easy on you, since this is your first time..." He came closer to Matthew, his face so close to Matthew's hair that Matthew could almost feel his breath of the hair strands above him. It _tingled._ All the way to his toes. Gilbert reached down and placed his hand under Matthew's chin, bringing it up so that violet eyes could meet ruby red. Matthew flinched slightly, and he trembled. Gilbert's face seemed to get closer, until all Matthew could see was that red gaze...something brushed against his lips....and was his mouth getting closer?

"Okay, so anyway, Feliciano, at least participate in one match so that we can get more team development here." Ludwig's deep voice permeated as he dragged Feliciano back towards the arena. Gilbert and Matthew panicked and went back to their earlier one meter space in between seats, both refusing to look at the other. Ludwig and Feliciano both noticed the extreme quiet, which was weird because usually Gilbert would have been making weird pervertic jokes about" invading someone's vital regions ". How close he actually was to the correct theory Ludwig would never find out.

"Neh? Gilbert, Matthew, are you two okay? You look bright red and feverish looking." Feliciano looked at the both of them.

Gilbert recovered first, turning to both Ludwig and Feliciano. The blush was gone from him face and was replaced with a maniacal grin. "Excuse me? Me? The awesome, feverish? I've never caught a cold in all my life, you hear me, Feli?" exclaimed Gilbert, throwing a thumbs up along with a sound that could resemble a machine gun. Never let it be said that the awesome can't customise their own hand gestures.

Matthew on the other hand was thankful that attention had been diverted from him for once. He just couldn't get rid of the red flush that had spread upon his cheeks. _You're so weak, Williams!_ He chided inwardly. _You know this guy for just a few days and already you just blush and feel all tingly? What kind of person does that? Seriously!_ Luckily that was what it took to clear the flush out of his face, and he shook his head determinedly, trying to clear that foggy, near giddy feeling he had. _I need to focus for the match._

Gilbert for that matter himself was equally embarrassed, although he was luckier to hide it faster than Matthew had. That was the weirdest thing he just did. All he did was threatened to invade someone's private regions like he always did and suddenly, he was nearly seducing the kid? What kind of guy does that? Especially to one like Matthew, who was still a kid and the same age as his brother, no less! What was he thinking? The only answer he could give however was the feel of his skin on his hands when he placed it under his chin, the texture of pink lips when he ran a finger over it, and the soft violet gaze his eyes had on his own, which made him so confused, so flustered, and yet so confident and ...dare he said it? _Awesome. _

* * *

_**Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions vs. Matthew 13**_

"Milady! I'm gonna win this time, you know! And when that happens, cook me pancakes everyday for the rest of your life!" yelled out the "Conqueror of Vital Regions" as he flexed his arms and stretched his legs, his grin evident even from across the opposite side of the arena." And when you beg me for mercy, call me "sama"!"

Matthew gritted his teeth. _That dumbass!_ He cursed. _He tries to seduce me and now he leaves me in such an emotional mess and pretends to have nothing to do with it? Well, I'll show him, great fighter or not!_

"If I win, I want you to call me "sama "then!" shouted the blonde, his face still red but determined not to look weak in front of the enemy, his eyes bright. Basically, he was adorable. Gilbert had to remind himself to _charge and attack_, not _charge and pull at his cheeks_.

" Haha, it will be on then!" yelled back Gilbert. At the sidelines, Ludwig had a clinging Feliciano on him as the brunette waved a new banner which said, " I dunno who to like more, The Conqueror of Vital Regions or Matthew 13. " Ludwig tried to ignore the weight on his left arm and held up his right, holding the stopwatch in his fist.

"Are the both of you ready?" Ludwig asked the two. Gilbert said "Kese! "in acknowledgement, while Matthew nodded fiercely.

"Well then, START!"

Matthew charged forward, and so did Gilbert.

While it was obvious that Gilbert knew what he was doing, Matthew however did not really have a clear idea on how to strike. Back in Canada, Matthew was a forward on his hockey team, which meant that he was a front line attacker and would be one of the first few to skate over to get the puck. He was good at dodging and getting away from other people as well. However, on his first try on the ice he had skated so quickly he rammed straight into the goalie and nearly caused a pile up. This had led to a reputation on the team as a "Rammer", for he could hit you so hard, you'd have no idea what had just happened. Matthew assumed that if he did something like that, he would somehow manage to survive and not get hit. After all, hit first, ask questions later.

So he charged forward, his aim basically directed towards Gilbert's chest.

Gilbert smirked, and dodged to the left, leading Matthew to charge past him, then grabbed him from behind, in a bid to flip him.

Matthew panicked, and tried to prevent getting flipped, only to see the world turn on him and upside down. Poof, there he was, on his back, with Gilbert pinning him down.

Ludwig, at the side, started shouting, "1, 2, 3 ...."

Gilbert smirked above him, his face inches away from Matthew's own. In a raspy whisper he bent down, near the younger blonde's and asked, "Ready to call me "sama" yet?"

With no answer, Matthew slapped him. Gilbert, shocked, raised a hand to his cheek, only to see Matthew slide out underneath him, jump up and brace himself for battle again.

Gilbert's eyes gleamed. _No pushover, huh? He _does_ walk the talk too._

Matthew lunged forward with a cry, but Gilbert easily sidestepped him. Ignoring the cries he had in his head that that wouldn't be appropriate, he then grabbed Matthew's hands and tried to twist it. Ignoring the warmth that he momentarily felt, Matthew jumped and landed/ kicked him at the knees, causing Gilbert to cry out in pain and releasing Matthew's hands.

Gilbert ignored the pain in his knees and started cracking his knuckles. _Definitely no pushover._

Matthew then lunged forward once more.

However, some circumstances were to be the cause of what happened next.

Firstly, somehow, Matthew's foot slid forward, and with the run he was attempting to do, the movement propelled him forward.

Secondly, Matthew's leg, by instinct, moved his legs in a sort of slide position, similar to when he was skating on the ice and swerving to stop the motion.

Thirdly, he was going straight towards Gilbert, so his arms were outstretched, as though trying to grab on to something.

Fourthly, the thing he grabbed onto was Gilbert's knees, which were still a bit sore.

With the combination of factors, we shall now add them up.

Slide+ motion forward + arms +grabbing someone's sore knees = accidently causing a fall.

In this case, Gilbert fell.

And that , with Gilbert knocked off his feet while Matthew landed on top of him, face on his chest, his upper body landing over Gilbert's own body was how Ludwig and Feliciano found them both when they reached them. Feliciano, who had a camera, quickly snapped a photo of them both unconscious and on the ground. Later, while reviewing the pictures of the camera, Feliciano would comment that if you did not know better, you would have thought both of them were merely sleeping, with Matthew lying slightly on top of Gilbert. While both were only knocked out for a few seconds, Matthew had recovered first and was at the moment screaming apologies at Gilbert's side. Gilbert recovered a few seconds later, but that was enough. Matthew had won.

_**Results of the Match: Matthew 13 defeated Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions. Matthew 13: 20, Gilbert, Conqueror of Vital Regions: 10.**_

_

* * *

_

Gilbert was fine.

"That was not awesome!"

Albeit a little sore for losing against Matthew.

Gilbert was stunned for a few seconds while being knocked off his feet. To think that someone that was not his brother had managed to do what even his brother couldn't do was rather surprising to the older man. On the other hand, he was proud of Matthew. The kid had managed to knock the awesome off his feet, after all. Not many could do that. The fact that he had regained consciousness with the blonde screaming out his name and shouting apologies while clutching his arm as though it was a life buoy reduced the pain he felt in his knees temporarily and made him slightly happier to be hurt .

But he won't ever say that out loud to Matthew.

Matthew was in shock.

'Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit him! Argh! Gilbert, say something! "The frantic blonde boy was panicking at Gilbert side.

"That was so not awesome." That was Gilbert's usual annoying voice, so he must have his vocal abilities, at the very least.

Behind Matthew, Ludwig sighed in relief. "Matthew, it's okay. When he says that, it usually means that he's fine and going to get riled up again." He turned to his elder brother again, "Please don't make me worry about you all the time, bruder."

Matthew bit his lip, feeling extremely upset over the fact that he had hurt Gilbert, and rather embarrassed for having done something which he did when he was a practical first timer for hockey, despite the fact that it was an accident . He had a feeling that the older guy wouldn't forgive him for such an act, considering the fact that he had made the older male looking less" awesome "than usual.

Thus, Matthew was left with so much guilty feelings he looked like the Hindenburg a few minutes before it crashed. Except a much cuter Hindenburg, as tears gathered at the edge of his eyes.

* * *

As Gilbert was able to move all his body parts, it was declared that Gilbert was fine, and not under any concussion.

Thus, he and Matthew were now stuck doing reporting for the video camera.

"Thank you and welcome back to the AWESOME CHANNEL! Where Legends Invade Vital Regions! I am the Conqueror of Vital Regions, and this is my lovely assistant, Milady!"

"Matthew 13, actually." Said Matthew quietly as he stood further from Gilbert, trying his best not to look him in the eye. Gilbert frowned slightly, but continued.

"Anyway, we now have Feliciano, who is with us today." The Italian boy skipped towards them, happily waving at the camera.

"Hi, you guys! Ooh a camera, am I on TV? Pretty! I wanna give a shout out to my fratello Lovino, Brother Antonio and Nonno! I love you all! I nearly died while running today! But don't worry, Ludwig's looking after me!"

A small "Mein Gott" could be heard off camera.

"It's the Godfather Feliciano! Who is a descendant of the Mafia family back in Italy!" Gilbert said as he ruffled his head. Feliciano giggled.

Matthew attempted to talk so that he wouldn't feel so awkward," So what do you hope to achieve in this match, Godfather?"

"Ve~? I gotta say something cool, right? Hm...I'm here because Doitsu...The Mercenary forced me to! So I'm gonna take revenge for that! But I dun really wanna hurt him; he's my best friend in the world! HE taught me how to tie shoelaces, he knows how to do a hundred push ups, he can do that diamond style push up which is really hard for me to do, he can eat squishy potatoes and drink loads and loads of beer and knows a lot about guns, knives and the military stuff, which is really, really cool, but really, really scary, and he's super neat too! He even tells me knock-knock jokes! Although I didn't get it, and was just scared the whole time he tried to smile and laugh....It was scary!"Feliciano said this in without Gilbert or Matthew managing to get any word inside.

"Erm....okay...so erm good luck, Feliciano!" said Matthew, who had not caught any of the speech and was trying to find something to say that could be deemed relevant and suitable without hurting the boy.

* * *

"You didn't hurt me much, you know."

Matthew squeaked when he heard the older man's voice and turned to look at him, only to realize that he still felt very guilty over the Slide Grab Fall incident (Yes it actually had its own name now. Feliciano reckoned it was similar to the Stop Drop Roll Technique so he had quickly given it a similar sounding title) and couldn't meet Gilbert in the eyes just yet.

Gilbert sighed inwardly. Where was that fierce and brave Canadian he had just seen a minute ago? Although even now, Matthew still looked very adorable with the tears in his eyes and the guilty/embarrassed flush on his face, though of course crying was not an awesome thing in Gilbert's book (listed under No. 2035)

_A crying Milady is one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I just wanna give him a hug- No, no, you can't hug him now, where's your manly reputation? You're supposed to be Gilbert, THE AWESOME CONQUEROR OF VITAL REGIONS! And besides, you never give hugs! Argh, to heck with it!_

Gilbert opened his arms and , turning his head to the side and shutting his eyes tightly as though he did not actually want to but would do so for his sake, went," Okay, here."

Matthew looked up at him, confused. "Huh?"

"Well, you look like you need a hug, right? And I'm the most awesomest person around, so –"

Without warning, Matthew had burst forth, arms outstretched, to clasp them around the guy's waist, hugging tightly as he sobbed and cried out apologies. Gilbert, who was only expecting a softer, less-bone crushing hug, stiffened slightly in surprise and shock. Then slowly, he relaxed and awkwardly hugged back, feeling somewhat comforted by the way young Matthew was grabbing him. He usually hated hugs, and never gave them out as though they were candies at a shop, but if it was for Matthew...he believed he could get used to it. No one, apart from Ludwig when he was a child, ever held on to him that tightly before.

Speaking of tightly, was it getting slightly harder to breathe now?

"Milady-you're ...crushing vital regions....can't breathe...."

Matthew looked up, and indeed the one being hugged was turning into an odd shade of purple now.

"OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" He had immediately let go of the breathless man who immediately gasped and started taking in more air. Most of the purple had disappeared from his face but there was still a tinge of red still left dusting his cheeks. Matthew was about to apologize again when Gilbert held up a hand.

"Let's get this straight between us. When you're with me, no crying. That is just not awesome. Secondly, no more apologies for weird things like that. You did well out there just now, kid. You deserve the 10 points. Thirdly, I don't give hugs often, so technically, be lucky that you hugged THE AWESOME today."

A small giggling could be heard from the younger boy and Gilbert grinned." See? I am that awesome. Stop all that crying, you look better with a smile. Anyway, the awesome always heals fast, he's that good! "A moment passed while Gilbert watched Matthew's face as he smiled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Quickly feeling his face get slightly redder due to the absolute "Moe-ness"...that was how Kiku said it, right?, he quickly twisted his head forward and said, "For that matter, I forgive you for that knee breaking incident, because the awesome is too generous and I know that because of my astounding coolness, you've have forgotten about how I twisted your hands, flipped you and tried to pin you. I am that cool, huh?"

"I'm surprised that your head hasn't become bigger through all that hot air of yours." said Matthew as he laughed slightly at the idea. Gilbert relaxed more, chuckled and placed a hand on Matthew's head, ruffling it." Since you're feeling better, shall we get on with the match? West and Feli-chan would be waiting, you know...."

"Okay" said Matthew, and got back up to the sidelines so that he could grab the stop watch.

"Hey, does this mean you get to call me "sama"?" asked Matthew.

Gilbert winced. He was hoping Matthew had forgotten about that.

* * *

_**The Godfather Feliciano vs. Ludwig the Mercenary **_

"Ve~! Doitsu! I think you're great, even though you're scary!" shouted Feliciano as he waved his white flag happily from his side of the arena. The chirpiness of the Italian could be felt even from where the Gilbert and Matthew were standing at the sidelines. Gilbert had almost expected to see his bird chirp back in reply.

"Now Feliciano put down that white flag. Remember what we've said about it?"Ludwig said as he walked into his space at the arena. While he was apprehensive about actually attacking his best friend (*coughcrushcough*), he knew that it would have been worse if it was with anybody else. Suffice to say, after seeing Matthew's match with Gilbert and Matthew actually winning the match, Ludwig was inwardly glad that Feliciano had pulled the white flag when he did. Imagine what he could have done to Feliciano if he hadn't.

Though now he was in a bind. Could he actually hurt his best friend in the match?

Now was not the time to think about it, the only thing he could do now was make sure not to do more harm than necessary.

Gilbert had already got the stopwatch in his hands, with Matthew next to him to witness /referee the match.

"Ready......START!"

Ludwig lunged forward, thinking in his mind. _Okay, it's very easy, just punch Feliciano at his side and pin him down when he's down. You'll save him the extra fighting and you won't hurt him anymore after that. Over and done with._

Fate however, was not that kind.

Firstly, Feliciano had ducked quickly, which meant that Ludwig had charged past needlessly without any impact.

When he had turned around, Feliciano wasn't there anymore, only to find that Feliciano was actually in front of, aiming a punch.

Ludwig held his forearms out, and kept them out as Feliciano rained punches on them, each one slightly harder than the next. As he did, he realised that this Feliciano was definitely not the same one he usually saw every day. This Feliciano was one which he only saw during soccer matches. The one with absolute confidence and actual concentration of his own capabilities.

Ludwig was beginning to feel a small smile creep up to his face.

Feliciano had stopped raining punches on him and was now throwing a single punch to his face. Ludwig reached a hand out and caught the punch, then used his other hand to grab his opponent. By the waist. As you can imagine, if viewed by an outsider, It would have looked like the couple were dancing a waltz and that Ludwig was about to dip Feliciano.

( At that moment, throughout the world, every country reported a significant amount of screaming from each of their cities, all of them seeming like screams of happiness. Many have reported that the screamers were just going about their usual business, when suddenly they had all stopped, had a maniacal gleam in their eyes, and started screaming. When asked what had happened, a spokesman would only say that it affected many females, usually those from the age of 13 and above, though some were adult women, from all shapes and sizes. The common element seemed that every one of them was chanting "Hetalia", "Doitsu" and "dipping". No one has recovered as of yet.)

Ludwig ignored the screaming in his mind (though he had no idea why there were fangirls in his minds as of that moment) and grabbed Feliciano's waist, trying to find a way to flip him. Feliciano grinned, and then slipped out of his grasp, grabbing Ludwig by the arms from behind and trying to attempt the same move Gilbert himself tried to do with Matthew. Of course, having been born physically smaller than Ludwig, as well has having less body mass, he only attempted to try and lift Ludwig, only to realise that Ludwig was heavier than he was, and resulted in him falling over with Ludwig on top of him.

Gilbert hooted at the sidelines while Matthew, who saw them on top of each other, blushed. Was that how they found them just now? (He had, of course, no knowledge that Feliciano had taken a photograph of the scene and it was now stored in his camera.)

"How much time has it been? "Asked Matthew who knew that Gilbert was controlling the stopwatch.

"Who cares? This is so cool! It's almost like an anime!" Gilbert shouted, happily surveying the show in front of him.

Matthew rolled his eyes and Gilbert smirked in reply.

Feliciano had managed to get out underneath Ludwig and was now crouching low, preparing for attack. Ludwig himself was on a defence move, tensed and ready.

With one ready swoop, Feliciano launched himself against Ludwig.....

"AND TIME!"Gilbert shouted.

Both Feliciano and Ludwig stunned, turned to look towards Gilbert, which resulted in Feliciano misplacing his aim, and landing on Ludwig.

"Okay that one did not, count, so basically....it means that it's a tie!"Gilbert shouted. Feliciano turned to look at Ludwig, his usual lazy countenance coming back on his face.

"Hehehe! Doitsu! See , I fought ! Aren't you proud of me?"Said Feliciano happily.

Ludwig looked at him, and then smiled.

"You did well, kid."

_**Results of the match: Tie. Ludwig the Mercenary: 20, The Godfather Feliciano: 10**_

**

* * *

**

"FELICIANO! You did it, you actually fought someone! Whoohoo!" yelled Gilbert as he hobbled over (not that he would ever admit it) to pat Feliciano on the head. Matthew followed him, giving Ludwig a smile of congratulations and a shake of his hand. Feliciano suddenly launched himself against Ludwig's shoulder, giving the surprised Ludwig a wet t-shirt as he sobbed on his shoulder.

"I was so scared the whole time!" sobbed Feliciano as he clutched Ludwig's arm. Ludwig, at a slight loss and wondering what had happened, could only awkwardly pat his head.

"You did well, Feliciano..."

"Hug!"

And hug did Ludwig, as he gave a comforting squeeze to Feliciano.

* * *

"So anyway, what with Feliciano on his first fight and all, he doesn't want to fight again. "Said Gilbert as he stretched out slightly on a rock, wincing slightly as he regarded his knees, which had two huge bruises on them. " So he's called a forfeit for the last match. Not that I am, you know, grateful or anything, but that shows just how awesome I am that enemies run even before we get into the arena."

He didn't mention the fact that he was actually grateful for such, because the knees that Matthew had slammed his weight on were beginning to hurt slightly. Probably enough to bruise badly .But being the awesome warrior that he was- (" Excuse me, THE AWESOME (ta-da-da-dah!) not just awesome." retorted Gilbert towards the author. "My bad" says the author.) I mean THE AWESOME (ta-da-da-dah!) , he never mentioned a word of it.

Matthew looked at him questioningly, not understanding the inner turmoil that Gilbert was having with the author's mistake of having called him just" awesome" not THE AWESOME ( ta-da-da-dah!) and asked," Erm....Gilbert, you are alright, right?"

" Milady , I have never been better "said Gilbert, as he laid a hand out so that fluffy Gilbird could jump onto his hand and hop his way up his shoulder." I would suggest you care more about yourself. You're fighting West next, arencha? Since he's my bruder, I'll let you know...he never lets up if he can."

Matthew gulped. He had forgotten all about that. As it was the last match, it was gonna be seen as to who would win the fight. Between Ludwig, who had fought his best just now and was a very strong and powerful adversary, and Matthew who only got through the first round because Feliciano forfeited and won the second round only through an accident. As it was, he felt as though all through the fights, he had only gotten in by luck.

Gilbert noticed the worried expression Matthew had, and quickly tried to reassure him , " Look, no worries about Ludwig, he's a harmless little kid really. As it is, he's only all seriousness during business, he's erm...actually he's the same during play too...You should have seen when he was a kid. During hide and seek back in Germany, he kept acting as though it was a war zone, giving the other kids walkie talkies so that everyone else where the other was at all times so that they could sneak up on the seeker...it was a mess....the seeker's parents harassed us for weeks and the kid never talks to us anymore, he just runs and squashes himself in the corner when we go to his house. Which is weird when you think about it, he's near 20 now, he can't fit into that corner very well...."

" Erm..." While Matthew could clearly sympathise with the poor guy who was probably still traumatised by Ludwig back in Germany, it still did not actually reassure him about his impending battle with Ludwig, child scarer by the age of ...whatever he was when that happened.

" So anyway, Ludwig won't harm you, he's only what, 18?" said Gilbert as he stroked little Gilbird gently by his chest, getting a little chirpy sound from him by each stroke of the finger.

Matthew looked down on his lap, clenching his fists. Gilbert looked back at him , and sighed." Okay, if you're not worried about Ludwig, I'm almost afraid to ask ...what wrong then, milady?"

Matthew took a moment to answer, and when it did, it came out in a whisper.

" It's just that...I shouldn't be at this point . I mean, I never won anyone in games that were strength based, Alfred did. And if I ever did anything right, it was just by luck. You saw what happened today. I didn't even fight Feliciano, and I got in, all because he forfeited. And that fight with you, I won only because I tripped and caused you to fall. I'm gonna get pounded by Ludwig later, and I'll know that it wasn't because I was smart and stuff. I'm just a fluke. "

It was evident that the idea of being a fluke had been on Matthew's mind for a long while. Gilbert remembered that he and Alfred were twins, and Alfred was actually rather more famous than Matthew ever was. Coupled by the fact that Alfred often overshadowed his younger twin and the fact that more people either mistook him for Alfred or paid more attention to him must have grated Matthew's self esteem.

He also remembered what others had said upon meeting him.

_At that point, Roderich, who had been standing by observing the scene carefully, said "Wait, I know you, don't I? That kid in my history class..."_

" _Alfred was cute when he came in with you today! Even that bear he was holding was so much more cuter than I remembered!"_

Even , when he thought about it, that bear that Matthew fed and owned never did seem to remember his name

"_Kukugachu! There you are!" said the young man, running towards the bear to grab it before it devoured the chocolates._

"_Who are you?" said the bear, as it blankly stared at the young man who had grabbed him and stopped him from eating the chocolates. Gilbert, who ordinarily would have found it odd, instead found the bear's reaction, and the resulting reaction from the young man, rather interesting._

"_I'm Canada, remember? The guy who feeds you." Said the young man, resigned to the fact that the bear couldn't remember his name._

No matter how Gilbert thought of the kid as charming, adorable and even at some parts special, nobody else seemed to remember the poor kid. Either that or mistook him for his brother. That must have been hell if this happened his whole life. No wonder he wasn't confident in what he was doing.

" Look here." Gilbert said, scooting himself closer to Matthew and placing a hand on his shoulder. Matthew looked up and flinched to see a serious Gilbert staring straight into his eyes. " Kid, you're not a fluke. In fact, think of it this way. If you were a fluke, that bear of yours wouldn't be plump and healthy today, your parents would have been driven crazy by that crazy brother of yours . Hell, he's more of a fluke than you are, and I wouldn't have gotten these bruises all over me when you took me down and when you slammed into my knees." He gestured towards his purpling knees to emphasize his point. " Nobody, and I mean, NOBODY has ever managed to get close enough to do that. As well as taking me down and rendering me unconscious. Even Ludwig has never done that. Do you know how many people have ever rendered me unconscious in serious combat? Two . One was Elizaveta , that Home Ec. teacher you saw a few days ago, don't go near her, by the way. And you. Now what did I say about that crying?"

"I'm not crying, Gilbert."Matthew said as he absorbed the information just given to him , slightly stunned at the unexpected information regarding the Home Ec. Teacher. Ms. Hedavary was so nice, surely she didn't actually throw him down? Probably he was exaggerating.

" Ah, then stop that depression of yours!"Gilbert retorted as he jumped up ( momentarily forgetting about his knees and wincing) . Matthew looked up, only to see Gilbert looking down at him. The sun at the point was about to be setting, as it was early evening. The orange light on Gilbert made a striking impression on Matthew. Gilbert was...glowing. The sun light , when met with the texture that Gilbert's hair was, had threaded into the colour, adding strands of gold and orange into it. The pale skin , which usually would be a direct contrast to the orange, added a golden glow on Gilbert's body, giving him a golden appearance.

His eyes..._dear god, the eyes._ They were on _fire. _

Golden orange orbs blazed and flickered in his pupils when the sun hit them just right .

Gilbert was...there was no other word for it...._awesome._

" You can't just give up! Milady, you and I know ...well actually more me than you, because I'm just that awesome...okay, I know that your skills are actually more awesome than you think. It's all in your mind. I believe that you can do more than you think you can! Now, get past your whole self pity, and get out there and do something to prove to everyone that your actually more awesome than they or YOU think!"

Matthew stood up, and Gilbert gave him a confused look, expecting the smaller boy to try and dry his tears or smile sadly, but look as though he did not believe him.

" You're right." No tears. No anger. Just dry determination from the tone of his voice.

* * *

_**Matthew13 vs. Ludwig the Mercenary**_

Ludwig surveyed his opponent. Something seemed slightly different with him.

As a soccer player, he was experienced in analyzing his opponents. When playing against other teams, Ludwig could always tell what the person would do through a tell or habits. Usually that would include telling when the opponent was nervous, or weak in a certain body part, or not full experienced. In such cases, Ludwig would always use it to his advantage, and rarely was he wrong in such.

Know your enemy. That was something his brother often said.

However, in the case of Matthew....

He felt different. Earlier, while viewing the fight between Matthew and Gilbert, he had observed them well enough to know that Matthew was not clear in battle, and didn't seem to be as experienced as he or Gilbert were. He also realised that because of his unfocused scope, he would be severely hampered as he did not actually have a strategy in mind.

However, looking at Matthew now.....

There was no trace of any sort coming out of him.

In fact, Matthew wasn't showing any sort of tell whatsoever.

Gilbert stood, with Feliciano both of them holding up signs that said," We want popcorn!"The silvered hair man grinned, and said. " Is the challenger ready?"

" Ready" said Matthew. Ludwig , who just knew that his brother stole that phrase from watching American Gladiators, rolled his eyes.

" Is the contender ready?" Ludwig nodded grimly in acknowledgement, trying to focus all his attention to figure out any sort of tell of weakness before the fight.

"Ready.....GO!"

Both Ludwig and Matthew charged forward, both with their hands oustretched. They ran all the way forward, when suddenly Matthew ducked and Ludwig went charging past him needlessly. Slightly confused, Ludwig did not notice the boy behind him crouching , ready to jump him.

"Doitsu! Behind you!"shouted Feliciano , waving his arms and trying to get his attention. Ludwig turned and dodged just in time to see Matthew spring up behind his body around, he had to quickly defend himself as the Canadian boy was just moving too quickly. It was as though he glided on the arena.

Suddenly, Ludwig felt a grip on his shoulder and with a growl ,rolled around to twist his captor's arm that was gripping onto his own. Now Ludwig was holding on to Matthew, in the position tt had the smaller blonde with one foot in front of the other , one of them just before Ludwig's own sneakered shoe.

The smirk was what should have probably warned Ludwig. It was so much like his bruder's. With one kick, Matthew brought his leg up, and hit backwards to where Ludwig's knee was.

Ludwig, whose pressure was completely focused on Matthew's hand, did not notice the attack below and was caught by surprise. Seizing his chance, Matthew grabbed Ludwig by the collar of his shirt, lifted him over his shoulder, and threw him down, then jumped on him to pin him down.

One second, two seconds....

Feliciano was half crying for his injured friend, and on the other hand half cheering for Matthew.

Three seconds, four seconds....

Ludwig was struggling, it was obvious. He seemed to be trying to get up, but Matthew though smaller, was apparently stronger than his looks. He was resolutely still pinning him down.

Five , six, Seven seconds.......

Gilbert was on the edge of his seat. While he would be proud if West had managed to overpower Matthew and gotten out of the pin, it seemed as though his brain was subconsciously still rooting the other way. _Come on, Milady.....prove them wrong......_

Eight seconds....Nine seconds......_Ten_

Matthew had won. He had managed to pin Ludwig down for ten counts.

Ludwig had already given up on struggling after the tenth count and was now sitting up. Lying on the ground, he was still figuring out how exactly he had managed to lose before feeling all the air being pushed out of his lungs, as well as feeling something wet on his shoulder. Feliciano had, upon seeing Ludwig being unpinned, had ran towards him to hug him on the ground, crying. Ludwig had to comfort the smaller Italian boy by placing one hand in his hair while kissing him on the cheeks .It would have been rather entertaining for Gilbert to see had Gilbert been actually watching the scene. Instead, he seemed more interested in finding and checking up on the other boy, who was now sitting up on the ground panting and catching his breath.

Gilbert was in actual fact silently cheering happily for the smaller blonde. But of course he didn't show it on his face. The awesome people never pinned their hearts on their sleeves for jackdaws to peck at, after all.

Instead, Gilbert just smirked as he crouched down to meet Matthew's on face.

_Hm, I knew that kid had balls. Seems like having a crazy brother like Alfred did teach him a few things after all._

_**Results of the Match: Matthew wins. Ludwig the Mercenary : 20. Matthew 13: 30**_

_

* * *

_

Matthew thought that the past few minutes that had happened was just a dream. He dreamt that he had fought Ludwig singlehanded and threw him down over his shoulder, then pinning him down for 10 seconds. It was a very good dream. Any moment now, he would have seen Kumajiro dancing in a ballet tutu and Alfred wearing a superman costume shouting that he was the hero. That would usually be the signal to any end of a dream Matthew usually had.

Except Gilbert was in his dream, along with a cheeping Gilbird on his head. He seemed to being saying something like "We need rations..." or was it " How's the duration?" ...

" Milady, you listening? I've been saying "congratulations!"repeated Gilbert with some exasperation , waving his hands in front of him. Matthew blinked and that's when he realised it.

" Wait....I won?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. " Where were you the past few minutes when you were fighting West here? Of course you won. You threw him to the ground. How did you do that, anyway? I wouldn't think throwing people down was much of your speciality."

" I used to watch a bit of WWE with Alfred. Think I might have got it from there."Suddenly it all really struck him. The running, the quick dodging, the kick...it was all true.

Behind him Feliciano was at Ludwig's side, clutching his arm and tearing up.

"Doitsu! Don't die on me! We still have tons of things we have to do! Didn't we make a promise at the lake that day , where we said that we would be together no matter what, and we did a blood oath, and we swore to be brothers forever? And it's not the end of forever yet! Forever is forever, at least I know that much! Don't die on me!"

Ludwig, who had never actually been rendered unconscious and had been, for the whole duration of the speech been hugging Feliciano and calming him down, had been rather flabbergasted.

" Hey, I'm up here, I'm actually alive. " said Ludwig as he pushed Feliciano forward slightly to look at him in the eye. "Wait....I never made a promise with you at the lake. What are you talking about? Blood Oath? Feliciano, where on earth did that come from?"

" Ve~! Doitsu! You're alive!" shouted Feliciano as he glomped Ludwig again. It was a very disconcerting moment.

" Erm....Yeah... I never really died, Feliciano...." muttered Ludwig as he got up, shaking off all stiffness from his bones. Seeing Matthew, he got up, with Feliciano still clinging on to him and walked up to the Canadian, who had trembled slightly upon seeing the taller man.

Ludwig cleared his throat, and gruffly said, ' Well, Matthew. It's official. After this defeat, you have gained the 30 points , the most that any of us have ever been able to get . That means...you're the winner."

Suddenly, his knees felt like kissing the ground. " Wha-aart?" the Canadian who had made an appearance on Chapter 3 had finally come back.

Gilbert laughed, a short bark." In English. You've won . A champion. You hold the title of WWE Champion. Your title belt and complimentary trophy would arrive in the mail in 10 working days."

Matthew , still stunned, said it as a whisper at first. " I've won." Then in a louder voice. " I've won?" Finally ' I'VE WON!!!!" he yelled, jumping up and down. Gilbert smiled, a genuine smile for a long while as he watched the jumping Canadian, a strange gentleness in his eyes. Ludwig smiled himself, as Feliciano waved and cheered and tried to present Matthew with a packet of " Congratulatory Pasta" ( No tomato sauce included.)

* * *

They had a celebratory dinner that night , Gilbert having decided that when they were congratulating Matthew. As a result, Feliciano had draped a coronet of leaves onto Matthew's head, much like how the Romans had crowned their kings. Ludwig had , for this occasion, actually tried to tell some of his knock-knock jokes, to no avail as Feliciano and Matthew had no idea what the punch lines were and had to force themselves to laugh. And Gilbert himself cooked them wurst and pasta along with his own special pancakes and maple syrup. Matthew felt so happy and warm, sitting there by the fire, with his team around him, joking ,laughing and feeling good. It was the first time he had felt like that for a long while. All of them ate till they were full, feeling very punch drunk. As they went to bed, Matthew felt the most comfortable he had ever been since leaving Canada.

The next day, Ludwig had woken them up very early. As he had woken up first, he had taken the opportunity to open the envelope for Task 3 to see what they were up against. And after scanning through the details, he had quickly arisen his team and informed them of the latest developments.

Apparently, their task requirements had needed them to go find Team 3. Which meant that they had to move out.

" Why specifically Team 3? " asked Matthew as they packed up and cleared their campsite .

" Because that was what the rules asked for." Replied Ludwig as he blew out the fire, leaving only dust and dirt. Gilbert rolled his eyes, while Feliciano was in rapture and glee on being able to see his Fratello and Antonio again after 2 days.

They all packed up and left their campsite, Ludwig leading them and headed west, to where Team 3 was last reportedly staying, near the edge of the forest where the beach was. It was a long walk , and it was a tiring one.

"Oh no!" groaned Matthew as he realised something. " I think I've left Kumajiro's biscuits back there.

" Is it necessary for you to get them?" said Ludwig as he looked at Matthew with slight irritation.

Matthew nodded "He'll be eating all of my food for the next few days if he doesn't get those biscuits. "

Ludwig nodded. "Then go. You do know how to reach this area again? "

Matthew nodded determinedly.

" Very well."

Carrying his pack, Matthew turned back and walked, Kumajiro following him.

* * *

The remaining few members of Team Awesome waited for Matthew to get back. After awhile, with no sign of Matthew returning, Gilbert, who was pacing around impatiently, grabbed his pack and yelled," Okay, this is long even for the awesome me! I'm going after him."

"Bruder! Wait!"

Ludwig's shouts were in vain, as Gilbert had already raced off into the direction Matthew was last seen walking towards.

* * *

"Where are you....ah? Found ya!" said Matthew as he finally found the little bag of biscuits. He looked at Kumajiro and said, 'You know, sometimes I don't even know why I keep you around."

"Who are you?"

"Ca-na-da, Kumbaya. "

He started to turn back to find the rest of his teammates . But not being as good a navigator as Ludwig was, he didn't know exactly if it was the correct way to go. Finally he realised that he had walked past the same tree 3 times, though he wasn't so sure whether it was the same tree he had walked past or a different one, they all did look the same.

He sighed and looked at the white bear, who stared back blankly at him. Unless Kumajiro had a built in compass in him.....

"Hey, milady! Where are you! The awesome has arrived, you know!" A familiar sound was coming near him. Matthew turned to look at the source of the sound just as the source of the sound had ran in and tripped over a certain white bear.

With that much momentum, he was not able to stretch out his hands in time, hitting his head on the rock in front of him.

Even as Matthew ran towards him, the horror of the scene in front of him didn't stop. There was a dark liquid pooling already on the ground before him.....

**Author's Notes : ( Da-da -DUM!) No!!!!I'm sorry Gilbert! It's for the good of the story!!!**

**And that's how it should be for at least 2 chapters. Starting from next chapter, I would be introducing Special Omakes about the different teams, especially since a few of the readers have asked worry, you'll find out what happened to Gilbert in chapter 8. ( dodges a few tomatoes and wurst.) **

**Matthew causing Gilbert's accident was all along in my mind. In fact, a few pictures or comics regarding this scene would have been the funniest thing I would ever have seen. And yes, he's actually stronger than he looks.**

**Feliciano only choosing to fight Ludwig was already decided in my mind. Because Ludwig is his Co-Captain as well as best fren, they would have spent enough time together that Feliciano would be most comfortable enough to fight with. Otherwise he'll just cry and not fight anyone else.**

**Is anyone going to be excited as to what I would be doing for the other teams? I do hope so. **

**And now review! we'll get there a lot faster if you do! You can express your hate or love for me there if you like. Mwahahahhahahaha.**

**Lastly, I quote Gilbert," Lache du uber meinem Schicksal." KAPITULIEREN to the love tt is Prussia x Canada!**


	7. Special Omake : Team Bloody Wankers

**Author's Notes: OMIGOD!!! I AM SO SO SO SORRY!!!!( glomps whoever it was in the room.) I am absolutely, tres, tres sorry!!!! I blame my procrasination! I'm evil!**

**So in any case.....I've compensated by putting in two chapters today! Aren't you guys lucky!**

**Enjoy this special omake!**

_**Special Omake :**_

_**Team Bloody Wankers - Sometimes, it's hard being an Iron Chef. **_

Alfred sighed in happiness, turning over in his hammock as he picked up his sunglasses and placed them over his eyes.

It was day three of their entire trip in Pulau Ubin, and already he was feeling ever so relaxed. This island was just ever so cool since they started camping there. He knew that if he was part of the cast in Lost , they would never have been so stressed out in the first place. For that matter, the plotline for Lost was getting more screwed up every day. As it was, he never understood exactly what was going on in the show, but the tension there was just too much for him to understand. He did manage to get to meet the creator of Lost once back in LA during a party, but Alfred then got distracted by the hamburgers being served .

Then again, he never really watched Lost that frequently. He was more a fan of Family Guy.

Just as Alfred was happily dreaming about coconut drinks and scantily clad girls serving him and feeding him grapes, his sunglasses were taken off, revealing a rather irritated British guy , surrounded by trees and sunlight.

" Aw...mom....I don't wanna go to school today....Can't I stay and bake cookies with you...." whined Alfred as he struggled and rolled around in his hammock until he was face down on it. Arthur, flustered at being called "Mom" , decided that the only way to get him to wake up and actually take notice of who he was talking to was to slap him on the arm.

"ARGGHHHHH!!!!!!"yelled the American in pain, clutching his arm. He sat up to confront the perpetrator. " Artie, as my best friend, I have to ask...why did you betray me in such a manner?"

Arthur rolled his eyes." Firstly, I had never in any way given any inclination that I had wanted a best friend, secondly, if I had a best friend, it would most definitely not be you. Thirdly, I had never betrayed you, stop overdramatizing things."

"Oh cruel fate!" shouted Alfred as he dropped off the side of the hammock in order to get on his knees and wring his hands. " Why have you sent me such a fiend that toys with me and my emotions? Oh ,cursed temptation, may it be that the fiend such suffer such a smiting that would remind him of his sins!"

Arthur rolled his eyes again . Bloody brilliant. He was stuck on this damn island with a Shakespearean actor for a week. What a way to spend time bonding.

Team 1 had already spent 3 days on the island, and it was tough to say that the team would have gotten along by now. Arthur was still feeling sore over the fact that he was going to be in the same team as the two irritants, that American bozo and that other French Frog for the whole of the week. The French Frog had already insulted his eyebrows , his cooking, his British heritage and his "apparent uncuteness" as Francis had put it. Arthur countered that with sarcastic comments about Francis's accent, his flirtation with nearly everything that moved,his girly appearance and most of all, the weak French Army and their tendency to lose.

To top it off, the American Idiot ( Arthur just loved it when he made puns like that. The fact that it was making a cultural reference as well as the truth? Priceless) was a total, for lacking of better words, _an idiot._

Don't get him wrong, Arthur was being kind. Yet, this perception had been stuck with him since the first time they met.

* * *

"_Hey, Brit boy!" he was addressed as he walked out of his apartment. Turning around, he was greeted with the form of his neighbour and drink buddy, Gilbert Beilschmidt, who had walked out of the house at the same time with his younger brother .The white lab coat he insisted on wearing still looked dishelved, and the collar shirt he was wearing looked slightly crumpled as well. Arthur recalled that he wasn't much of a morning person, as evidenced by the hard fights they had over who got to use the bathroom first the morning after a drinking session._

" _Gilbert, morning ."replied the younger boy as he locked the gate to his apartment, the door already locked firmly as well. The amount of locks they used in the country was amusing, and the fact that Singaporeans were so paranoid about their property like their houses was rather funny. He made a note to tell that to Leona when he saw her._

" _Listen, kid, I need a favour from you." The silver haired man ran a pale hand through his hair, his face smirking slightly. " There's a new kid coming in today that's supposed to need some showing around. Now usually, me being awesome as I am, I would take him around, but I've got a board meeting to go to. West here can't do it as well, he has to leave halfway for a dentist appointment. So kid, can you do it?"_

_Arthur, surprised at the request, could only nod._

For a new student, he sure takes his time, doesn't he?_ Thought Arthur as he stood at the gates, looking for any trace of the new student. After a while, just when he was deciding to give up, he turned back into the school compound, taking out his phone to ask Gilbert if he was sure that the student was arriving today, when suddenly he heard a voice above him._

" _Hey, are you the one they sent?" said the voice_

_Arthur froze, trying to figure out which one of his magical creatures was addressing. Charlie the Unicorn ? Dobby the Elf? Bottom The Fairy? ( Yeah, I know, as the author, even I'm ashamed of his names for his magical creatures.) But the noise seemed to come from the tree above him._

" _Up here, the hero's up here!"_

_Looking up, Arthur could make out a human shape. However, the sun was shining too brightly against the tree to see clearly. _

" _Erm, I hate to bother you, but what exactly do you find fascinating about climbing trees?" asked the British boy politely, though he really wanted to shout, " Oy, what are you doing up there, get down, you bloody bugger!"_

_The shape laughed, " Well, I was waiting for you, and then I got bored, so I climbed up this tree to see the school. I can't see it closely from the gates and besides, I was thinking I could make a good entrance by swinging off the trees or something and announcing myself as the hero! So anyway, I didn't know you're the guy sent to find me, wasn't the guy supposed to be the principal's assistant, Gilbo Baggins, or something?"_

" _Erm, sorry, I believe you got that mixed up." Arthur replied politely, while wondering how Gilbert would react to see his name mangled to "Gilbo Baggins" . Did he take that off Lord Of The Rings, or something? ' Do you mind coming down? I can show you around the school then."_

" _Yeah, the awesome guy has to come and survey the school he's gonna protect!" There was a slight pause, and then " Erm...how do you get down ?"_

_Arthur facepalmed." You got up there, but you don't know how to get down?!"_

" _Hey, the hero never concerns himself with stuff like this! Anyway, I'm so cool, maybe I can get down here by jumping down..." The figure shifted , standing on the branch now, "OKAY! Superman's gonna save the day! Watch me!"_

" _Wait, don't do t-"_

_It was too late, the figure came crashing down and landed, unceremoniously on Arthur._

_And as though that weren't bad enough, when Arthur regained consciousness, the first thing he registered was a teenage boy sitting on him, gazing at his face in fascination._

"_Woah....you look...more amazing close up." _

_Arthur blushed as he registered the compliment. No one had ever said that about him before, not even a tall, tow headed guy with glorious gold spun hair and sky blue eyes, with the most adoring expression on his face as he said the next few words," Those eyebrows are amazing! What do you feed them to get up to that size?"_

And that was the first time they ever met. Until very recently, the only consolation Arthur had was that Alfred was not a twin, so the probability of two Alfreds running around was slim.

* * *

" So anyway, since we're here, I believe we should have a team name." Said Arthur as the team ate breakfast .

The remaining team members stared at him as though he was mad, though in Francis's case, he was most probably fascinated by the eyebrows of Arthur and was staring again.

"I think it's an idea. I mean, it's hard referring to us as a Team without knowing what exactly it entails. And the team name would unite us more..." As, that was nice ,sensible Leona , as always.

" Iggy! This one of your lame brained ideas on team building again? Another one of those " one identity , one common people " kinda thing? Have you been watching too much of the national day rally speeches or something?"

" L' angleterre, and l'amerique, since you both disagree with each other, I shall reciprocate by disagreeing with both of you! Ah , la belle France! Amour comes from you every day!"

" You two bloody wankers, shut your gobs and listen up!"

" I'm a-wandering on the lonely is-land, the skies are blue and the grass is beh-ind'em!"Came a nice baritone voice from the right of Arthur.

" Erm....Sir...please listen my idea..."

" Oh , I'm sorry, Kirkland, but I just feel like taking out my little mini guitar and singing ..." apologized the Principal as he lounged in a wife beater and a pair of cargo pants, actually holding a small mini guitar.

" Why don't you play the music in the background while I flesh out my idea to the team?" suggested Arthur kindly .

" Okay!" said the principal cheerfully as he started strumming on the guitar again.

" So yeah, I want a team name so that we can distinguish ourselves from the other group..."Arthur continued .

Alfred scoffed , " I just said that it's a bad idea, Iggy! As it is , the names you come up with are supremely lameassed! I don't care about the other reasons , but if we're gonna come up with a name, I'm gonna do it!" He stretched out his hands and folded them behind his head.

Arthur gritted his teeth . He could have gotten any bunch of teammates in the world, but no....he had to get the French bastard and the American Idiot.

" So I suggest we call ourselves Team America!" shouted Alfred, as he pumped his fist up in the air.

" We are not naming ourselves after a movie about puppets." Stated Leona flatly.

" You watched that show?! I thought your parents were overprotective and kept censoring all that stuff?" Alfred asked, turning his head to Leona in confusion.

Leona smiled angelically, but somehow that smile had a tinge of a smirk of it ." What they don't know won't kill them , right?"

She can be scary when she can...thought Arthur as he continued " She has a point, please don't name us after that movie...and you just wanna get the name America in it! Stop that!"

Alfred pouted . " Well it can't be helped if I'm patriotic to my country! Oh , great star-spangled banner with the stripes! May your flag fly forever more!" he jumped up and stood straight , saluting an imaginary flag.

" America aside..." said Francis , ignoring the antics of the American " That movie was severely not beautiful! Imagine....France infiltrated with terrorists? And the view of France....desecrated forever! Ma Belle France, gone forever!" There he went, tumbling into his own black abyss, while the rest of the team members stared at him as though watching something very weird out of a really weird comedy story. In that background, the meaningless guitar strumming turned into Principal Vargas singing, " You are Worfress, Arec Bawrin."

"So..."that was Arthur.

" How about we give ourselves a name that's shows our co-operation with each other?" suggested Leona. 'Something like...Team Synergy? Or the People's Action Party!"

All three stared at her while she grinned sheepishly and said, " It was worth a try!"

" I like Team Synergy-"

"BO-RRRING!" yelled out Alfred. " Come on, guys! Get off your asses and let's come up with a name that all freedom fighters use since fighting for democracy, justice, truth and freedom! Something that future generations would refer to when remembering their past and the fact that freedom comes with a price! I say we name ourselves......TEAM COCO."

The rest of the team, who were listening to the dramatic speech with unusual attentiveness until the last part, threw a few pebbles at him while in the background the tune had changed once again to become a woeful tune , more befitting a war movie than a camping trip.

Then the shouting began.

" Why the bloody hell must we name ourselves after something that's only happening in your country! Damn you, Alfred, I thought you were being serious for once!"

" Hey, I'm the only one here coming up with all the cool, interesting names here! All i ever did want was the support of you guys, and did I get it? No!"

" You two are so inelegant! I'm disagreeing with both of you! France rules! Viva la France!"

" You too! Francis! You're a bloody wanker! In fact, you and that American Idiot! Both of you are the biggest bloody wankers I've ever seen!"

" THAT'S IT!"

All three boys , frozen at the sound of the female voice, all stared at Leona.

" The name! It's been in front of us all this while! Team Bloody Wankers!" said Leona excitedly, looking from one boy to the other. " Don't you see, Arthur keeps calling you guys that, and to be frank, for most of us, it's true! So we're Team Bloody Wankers!"

The boys stood , mulling the idea over.

" Why, Mon Cherie Leona! I believe you have got a good idea !"said Francis as he followed her lead. Francis always went with what the ladies said. Had Leona suggested to name themselves Team Sunshine , Lollipops and Rainbows, he would have declared his allegiance to it forever.

" Team Blood Wankers...that's not half bad."

Now that was from an unexpected source. " Principal Vargas , sir?"

The Principal stopped strumming his guitar. " See, lad, back in the army, our company used to have this private that we called , " Johnny Two Thumbs". British guy, cockney sort. Everyday Johnny Two Thumbs would call us " Bloody wankers" and me and my best friend Lukas would say, " Right back atcha, Johnny!"" He sighed, smiling." Then one day, he was gone. I think he called our commanding officer that and the officer just couldn't understand what he meant. Shame really, I liked Johnny and I miss that term. So we'll be known as Team Bloody Wankers, it'll be great to honour the guy."

Arthur, who didn't really want to disobey the principal, nevertheless asked, " Sir, you do know what "bloody wanker" is, right?"

The Principal grinned and said, " Well, not really, but knowing Johnny, it would be something about our heroic antics that would always get the enemy blood on ourselves when we destroy them, right?"

The younger boy, who really had no idea on how to reply, nodded silently.

And that was how Team 1 became known as Team Bloody Wankers.

* * *

After such an argument, you would have expected the number of eventful ....erm ...events would have been more smooth sailing, right?

Well, if you had seen what happened during the first two tasks, you would have begged to differ.

The first task, as we all know, was to find food and try to gather at least a week's worth of it to survive.

* * *

" _I told you Alfred, staring a chicken down into its eyes would not render it unconscious, let alone dead." Muttered a disgruntled Arthur as he crouched low with Alfred while staring at a white chicken . The white coloured bird, silly as it was , was staring back._

"_AHAHA!" said Alfred , as his eyes never left the chicken's beady black ones. " That's what they want you to think! The chickens are a seriously evil species, they can suck the brains out of you and peck your eyes out! I personally saw a bunch of chickens consorting with blue furry aliens and with one raise of his arms, he can get the chickens to sing in harmony! They're a devious sort!"_

_Arthur, who was wondering just how much more aspirin he had left back in his bag, then realised something.", Alfred, wasn't that from that Bohemian Rhapsody video I showed you a few days ago? The one with the puppets?"_

_Alfred had not taken his eyes off the chicken, but Arthur could almost see the blush on his fair face._

" _You dolt!" the scream from Arthur's lips startled both Alfred and the chicken, but except for a slight jump, the chicken didn't seem to take his eyes off Alfred. Arthur had by now stalked off to the direction of their campsite._

_Suddenly, a plop was heard and Arthur froze. _

" _I did it!"_

_Arthur turned and had the biggest shock of his life as he found the chicken slumped on the ground, while a grinning Alfred was happily striding over to the chicken, hands on his hips . _

"_Look, Arthur! I actually did it! The chicken is down! Whoohoo to me! Yayzies ! Wow, I like that word! Yayizes!"_

They had a lovely supper that night. Francis had managed to come up with a chicken sort of stew using some fruits and herbs he had found in the area along with some shrimp Leona had caught. However, this did not beat the Principal's catching of a giant boar, which was , after much protests from the younger teammates, released into the wild again. The boar was very grateful and discussed it with his family, when suddenly the son had chimed in with a similar experience. After much discussion, it was concluded with everyone agreeing that the humans were crazy.

Arthur, meanwhile, for the whole of the next few hours , was careful not to cause any ire of the American boy, as he was convinced that Alfred had the power of the Evil Eye.

* * *

" So in any case, Alfred, get up from the floor, we gotta start the third task today!" Leona announced. She had taken the third envelope from the task envelope, and was opening it happily.

Alfred, who was extricating himself from the floor after his dramatic speech, happily bounced up . "Whoohoo! I love Task 3! I just love that number 3! Yay for me , its three!! Hey, that rhymes , good for me!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, while Francis chuckled . " Mon dieu, Alfred. If it weren't for the fact that you're a guy, I would have sworn you were a cheerleader. Though..." he cupped his hand under Alfred's chin and looked deep into his eyes, a suggestive look on his face. " I believe that as a cheerleader, you would be...as the crude English would say, _" fetching."_ Why not try and put on that beautiful leotard I have in my ba-HIYEE!_"_

Arthur released his hold on Francis's T-shirt and said," Now that_ that's_ settled... Leona do you mind reading it?"

Leona frowned slightly." I....erm...don't really understand it, and its just so hard to read emoticons out....how about i just show it to you?"She thrust the paper out, looking very confused.

All three other boys looked down at the note.

* * *

_Hiyee!!!!__*__･゜ﾟ･__*:.__｡__..__｡__.:*__･゜__(n'__')η__ﾟ･__*:.__｡__. .__｡__.:*__･゜ﾟ･__* !!!!! It's me! Your Principal! You'd haven't seen me in 3 days or so, but I know you still miss me! Except if you're in Team 1 with me or something...in your case you guys....you guys are the best!!!__二二二（ __ω__）二__I'm burning through the sky....200 hundred degrees that's why they call me Mr Fareinheit!_

_In any case, since you've done the duel and the food searching....it's time you guys set up a television show! The trick is, you're gonna have to plan stuff from your fave TV reality series! Basically, You guys have been assigned a TV show to do and do a challenge from it! So you guys gotta have fun!!! The best are those that do running ε=ε=ε=__(;*´Д`)__ﾉ __or some sort of exercise__（ﾟ__Д__ﾟ__⌒｀つ__(´__;;;__or even dancing! __(__・__o__･__)__ ( __･__o__･__) __ ( ) __ (__･__o__･__) __(__･__o__･__)__They call me Cuban Pete...I'm the king of the Rumba beat....everynight I go chikchikeeboomchikchikeeboom!_

_So get out your Film Cameras and go __(*__ﾟﾉ__O__ﾟ__)__OOOOOIIIIIIIIII!!!__!_

_-Principal Vargas!_

Everyone's mind just had one phrase in their minds. " WTF?"

Said principal, who was happily composing a some music piece on his guitar, turned to look at them and said, " Oh, So you guys opened it! Excellent! Well, then you know that you're gonna be doing a show then! Start assigning roles on who gets the video camera and hosting gigs, and who are the contestants of the show! And I hope the contestants are good, I hope to get a good meal today."

Francis was the first to speak, " Ah, _excusez moi, principale, _but what do you me by...meal?"

The Principal looked shocked. " You haven't read the assignment yet? Oh I remember...it's that small slip of paper in the envelope. I kept forgetting to add that in the slips. No matter, you guys can handle it. The others I had them pair up with another team, but in your case, since you're with me, I thought a single team would be fine enough."

Leona dug around the envelope and grasped the small piece of paper with some text on it. Her eyes widened , as she chuckled ." Well, you guys might like this..."

* * *

" Iron Chef?!" muttered Arthur as he sat down disconsolately against a tree. His mind was reeling from the news he had just received. " How are we going to produce something like the Iron Chef?"

" Well, Arthur, think about it this way...it's like a challenge to us!" proclaimed the ever dramatic Francis, spreading his hands out wide and , for some reason, Arthur could almost swear there was a background of roses fluttering in and out, while a mandolin played melancholic music.

" If we were to do this wonderful, splendiferous show...why...it would be a mangifique spectacle, a joy of all wonders! And the French Cuisine.....ooh la....la!"

" Are you done with the favouring of French Food? God, Frenchy, you sicken me sometimes!"

" Oh, am I? I'm not the one who always goes and burns the porridge ...how does one even burn porridge anyway? It is simply not possible!"

" Oh, put a sock in it, Frenchy!"

" Pot and kettle blacker!"

" Arsehole"

" Rosbif!"

" Twat!"

" Sourcils!"

" Stop...being such a ....FRANCIS!"

" Oh, that's your best insult? Well, stop being such an Arthur!"

The argument deteriorated into more nonsensical name calling.

" You're such a chair!"

" Oh, yeah? Well two can play at that game! You're a square table! Not round, but square!"

" Classroom!"

"Economics!"

" Water!"

" Fire!"

Leona , Alfred and the Principal watched the argument with much interest. " How did Arthur become First Speaker for Debate anyway?" asked Alfred, who passed a box of popcorn to Leona.

Leona scooped some into her hands, and passed the box to the principal." I sometimes pretend I have no idea who they are, and then I offer to bring more fruit tarts to the table."

The Principal took some himself and chewed on it. " I like fruit tarts..."

" But now that I think about it..." said Alfred slowly as he looked at his two non- arguing teammates. " Exactly why did we get Iron Chef?I mean, its a rather boring show...all that cooking ... I thought we'd have gotten something with more real action, like...I don't know...American Idol."

The Principal laughed, " Oh, I gave that to another team as their assignment. I thought they need more stirring up, what with those really quiet kids and those two troubled teens...and I do love food."

The American was flabbergasted." NO! I LOVE AMERICAN IDOL! Why?!"

Leona , who was used to the American's own self pity and dramatic shouting ( in ways, he acted a lot like Francis.) and said ," Look, it's no big deal, Alfred...how about this? For the Iron Chef, you can direct , produce and host it, you seem to like that sorta thing...oh ," she pressed a lollipop into Alfred's hands. " Here you go, don't look so sad."

The mood change was immediate. Alfred beamed and unwrapped the sweet so that he was able to pop it into his mouth." Reeonah, yowr da bahst!" he replied, lollipop still in mouth.

It was after 10 minutes that the name calling was over and the two fighters sat back down, not because of exhaustion, but more because they were too mad that they were speechless.

* * *

" Personally, I prefer this assignment than American Idol. " Arthur confided in Leona as they poured over the plans for the show. " I always hated American Idol...they took a perfectly good British show... and then tear it all to bits! Bloody brilliant."

" Well,I don't know...I happen to like American Idol." Confessed Leona. " I haven't really seen Pop Idol that much before, but American Idol was the more successful franchise...that you have to agree, Arthur." She took a pen and marked a spot on the plans, chewing on her lip as she considered something." Francis would be an Iron Chef, right? Because of his cooking skills...but who would be the challenger?"

" It's absolute rubbish!" Arthur declared, taking the plans out of Leona's hands and writing something down." I swear, I never enjoyed an episode of that ghastly show. "

" Oh, really, British Limey? " Ah, Francis again. " What about last Wednesday ?"

Arthur flushed. He wished that Francis would not have heard that. He _hoped _Francis had forgotten that. He now prayed fervently that Francis would not continue. Unfortunately, whoever was in charge did not seem to hear his prayer. Francis, who evidently did hear what they were saying, had remembered what had happened last Wednesday , was now continuing what he was saying. Now if only that tow headed , blue eyed boy did not hear what Francis was about to say....

" What about last Wednesday?"

Drat! Where was Jareth , his Goblin King to reorder time when he needed it!

Of course, nobody saw Arthur's internal spazzing into Embarrassment Central. They were too busy being engrossed in what Francis was about to say.

" Well, me petite...last Wednesday, when I stopped by at young Sourcils's house..."

Oh god , he started already!

"And his charming housekeeper Marie let me in, so I happily pranced my way to the young monsiuer's room....and what so do I see?"

Please don't say it, please don't say it please don't say it....

" He was....IN HIS UNDERWEAR! Like those types of plain white undies that are so unflattering on a young man like him? While using a broom as a guitar and pretending to be Adam Lambert singing Can't Get No Satisfaction! And playing AIR GUITAR! HE WAS PLAYING AIR GUITAR!!"Francis, unable to control his laughter anymore, was bent double, laughter racking his entire form while tears fell out of his eyes in mirth. Leona herself was overcome with giggles while the Principal was playing the chorus line for that particular song.

Arthur was more or less waiting for the sun rays to enlarge , engulf him, and burn him into a crisp. He had never been so embarrassed in his life.

" He was even lipsynching to the television! The boy was LIPSYNCHING to American IDOL!" Francis was now shouting in glee. Leona, that traitorous friend , was now clutching her tummy, while her giggles had progressed to louder laughs .

Only Alfred had stood , stock still, an unreadable expression on his face. He turned to Arthur, who was ready to defend himself and his British honour if he had to.

" It-It's not what you think it is! I only watch American Idol because of Simon Cowell, which by the way, his decision to leave American Idol was a well deserved one! Honestly! I watch the show for the scathing comments of his so that I can defend myself well enough during rebuttals for debate ! Oh, and use them on you! That's all! I do not , in any way, have any love for Adam Lambert!" ( His inner voice was currently screaming at him to shut up, but to no avail.)

Alfred however did not seem to hear that. Instead he asked, " Plain white undies, Arthur?Like seriously?" Oh god, was that a grin creeping up on his lips? Arthur couldn't, wouldn't look him in the eye to confirm it, he was just too embarrassed. Especially to hear those words on a guy like Alfred.

The French Frog was not going to die. Oh no.

He was going to be sautéed, grilled, and have his legs cut off while he was still alive and posted for a public Guillotine execution.

He stood up, the redness in his face still in his face, the determination clenched in his fist and his eyes, the crease in between was deeper than before. Marching up to Francis, he threw one hand out and pointed at the laughing French boy.

" Fuck you, Francis! That's it! I'm challenging you for the Iron Chef Place!"

* * *

There was apprehension over the idea that Arthur had challenged Francis for the Iron Chef position on their game show.

Firstly, if one were to have known Arthur for a long while, he or she would have known that Arthur's idea of a good meal was based on Roast Beef with Potatoes, Gravy and other stewed vegetables. While normally this wouldn't seem so bad a meal, there was also another problem.

Arthur couldn't cook.

It wasn't as though he never tried. Arthur simply didn't have the talent to cook something well enough. The first day he took Home Economics, he had accidently set the oil on high heat. When he slid in the meat to be cooked, it had set off such a high crackle that he had screamed and accidently caused the meat to catch fire. The Home Ec teacher had ran over to his stove and threw a bucket of sand over it. After giving him a scolding which led Arthur to go on one of his drinking binges with Gilbert,( Hey, he was 18. It was legal to drink in a bar by that age in Singapore. ) Arthur was banned from Home Ec class for the rest of the term.

Since then, the Teacher had retired, and was replaced by Ms Hedavary, who was patient, and tried to help Arthur. She gave him permission to use the kitchen for practice, and occasionally did try to coach him on his skills in the culinary arts. And admittedly, Arthur had improved in cooking, from the level of unrecognizable black mass to at least somewhat edible and recognizable food.

Still, it hardly compared to Francis's own cooking. Francis , along with that other lad Feliciano, were the best chefs in the class. As it was, Francis's father was the top Chef de Cuisine in the Business, who currently operated his own exclusive French Restuarant and Francis had inherited his cooking skills. Nobody could forget one Valentine's Day, where Francis had presented a 3 tiered chocolate cake with a little castle and crocodiles swimming in the moat. He had presented it to Arthur, who unfortunately took the top layer with the castle and the crocodiles, and smashed it on his head. Still, it was a beautiful cake, and everyone who had taken a slice of the other two tiers admitted that it tasted great as well. Including the recipient of the cake, Arthur, who never admitted to liking the cake.

With such a contender, how would Arthur cope?

That was the question that was on everyone's minds that moment after Arthur challenged Francis.

Leona had tried to talk him out of it." It's not that I don't think your cooking is bad" she said, her eyes telling otherwise." It's just that its_ Francis_! I know you're trying to protect your honour and all, but isn't this a little too risky? The last time you protected your honour like that was when you fought Francis, remember that? You won, but you also were scarred for life, remember that?"

Arthur could clearly remember. While doing the physical challenge yesterday, he had fought with Francis. And it was one he'd never forget.

* * *

" _God, I have to fight that frog bloke ?! I can't believe this. Wait till the boys back home hear about this." Muttered Arthur as he dragged his feet towards the arena. At the other end stood the French Pervert, aka Francis, who smiled and blew a kiss in the most stylish way possible. Somehow, Arthur could detect a faint wavering of flowers and hearts as he did it. What exactly was it with Francis and his manipulating the elements like that?! He could even change the background!_

' _Mon cher, I shall have to apologize for what I might do to you...it might be a little....say...too romantic for you." The Frenchman shouted." Not that you would know, of course. You , you little prickly cactus, are too unromantic for your own good. I suppose it's the English blood. "_

_The Defender of the English blood bristled at the idea." Ex-excuse me! We English can be every bit as romantic as you frogs! I bet you your whole family were eating frog legs when your mom was pregnant with you!"_

_Francis snorted, " Frog Legs? Hah! Is that the best you can do! Well then, you English are a ruggerfolk , your army is a bloody joke, and I would think you would not be able to beat an artichoke! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"_

_Arthur spluttered with rage, " Well, you can't make a decent cup of tea if you had a tea making instruction manual! And for that matter, I happen to like elderberries! And you won't be able to tell the difference between oolong and Earl Gray tea if your life depended on it! And whose army's a bloody joke, you cheese eating surrender monkey?"_

" _Well, then...you can't tell the difference between black charcoal and roast beef, Sourcils!" shouted Francis. " Are you going to start fighting, or shall I taunt you a second time?"_

_Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists tightly , Arthur growled. " It's on , bitch."_

_The whistle blew. And Arthur and Francis strode forward. _

_While Arthur had started out with a good punch to the face, Francis had ducked that punch and grabbed him from behind. Struggling madly, Arthur had managed to get in a good kick before being released by the French boy. Grinning slightly , Francis made a grab for the English boy's legs and both of them tumbled to the ground, both struggling to get out of the entanglement of limbs._

_Struggling....wait a minute, it should take this long to untangle!_

" _Get off me, Frenchie." A low snarl was heard as the British boy tried to lift his leg out of the mess of body parts. However, a firm hand had forced him down as the French boy smiled, a devious smile at that, and Arthur felt a hand on his ass._

_He stiffened ( not in that way, people! ) and began his mind panic. However, his body acted independently, an arm thrusting out and hitting him in the eye. _

_Francis reeled back in pain, but Arthur's body continued to act independently, his knee jerking out and hitting Francis right in the middle of his body._

_Yeap, as Arthur would say, " Bollocks to you."_

* * *

So in anycase, that was how Arthur had won. But he had to admit, he still felt the embarrassment of being groped _in public _in front of an audience. With his principal in the audience . And a friend who worked with him every day. And _him. Of all the people in the audience, HIM!_

How many of you people have ever been in an embarrassing incident with your _PRINCIPAL_, your _CO- WORKER/FRIEND, _and of all people, the _ONE WHOM YOU'VE BEEN CRUSHING ON _in the audience?

Yeap. That's serious FML.

But Arthur wasn't one to let that get him down.

No siree.

In fact, it was because he wanted to redeem himself after that particular incident in front of these people that he decided to do the challenge.

Especially in front of Alfred. He couldn't let himself be treated that way in front of Alfred in that way anyway.

He remembered the first day they met, when the boy , with the golden hair of wheat, eyes of azure sky blue, and an opened mouth smile . That smile showed so much happiness and promise. When he had said those words , the emotion in his eyes, the free way of the words...it opened a whole new world to him. The daily arguments as well with Alfred was so much different than the ones he has with Francis. Somehow, the arguments with Alfred just made him seem so much more he wanted to earn back that reputation in front of him.

He was a man , damnit. And because of that, he wasn't going to let anyone else see him weak. He was going to fight for something, no matter how long it took. He wanted to see that happy smile again.

He looked at Leona straight in the eye , smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner. " I'm doing it. I know you're worried, lass. But I want to do this. In England, a man's honour is everything, no matter if he's a gentleman or if he's some bloke from Manchester. " He turned to his left, where Alfred was happily playing with the video camera and happily filming his surroundings. The emerald gaze softened as he looked at the blonde." Especially if he wants to be recognised for something."

Leona's gaze was still dubious, but somehow she seemed resigned. " I knew you'd say that." She muttered. She threw him a bundle of something, which Arthur fumbled to pick up. Unwrapping the bundle, he found that Leona had thrown him a pink frilly apron. With and incredulous glance, he looked back at Leona, who seemed to smirk. " Francis brought a whole bunch of aprons, but he specifically said that you had to wear this while cooking. "

"Did he bring a whole wardrobe, or something?" grumbled the British boy as he put the apron on." It's bloody camp. He should have packed light or something!"

" It's not so bad, Arthur. " Leona replied. " I know for a fact that you packed a few boxes for tea for camp. Between you and Francis, I could have sworn you were preparing a tea party. And besides," Leona's smirk seemed to grow bigger." You haven't seen what he wanted you and him to wear for the serving..."

Arthur caught the smirk and the slight gleam in her eye. He gulped. Very hard.

* * *

" Ladies and Gentlemen....but mostly gentlemen..." began the two emcees .

" On a cold, moonlit night as this..."

" Where you wouldn't expect anything like an actual cold moonlit night, seeing as it's still five o'clock...."

" We would like to welcome you to Team Bloody Wankers' version of ....."

" THE IRON CHEF!" both emcees exclaimed.

" Okay, Alfred, that would work fine, right?" sighed Leona as she watched the American run to the video camera to replay the opening.

Alfred scoffed, " Sez you!" He turned his attention to the camera. " Have you seen those TV shows? Those are epic! And how do they become epic? They have the best opening lines! That's the way it should be! And as the director, the best of everything should be done!" He started replaying back through the last few moments." Okay, its good now. Let's continue!"

Leona rolled her eyes. Considering the way that Alfred acted like a slightly dumb, overenthusiastic Golden Retriever most of the time , it was a stark contrast to see him now being a perfectionist in filming and directing. It was really weird.

" For many years now, we have searched the globe far and wide for the best chefs in the business-"

" In this case, our school, cause we have nationalities of all types, and at least one from every nation!"

" And because of such, we know that we have some of the best chefs for every cuisine !"

" Unfortunately, we only have one of them at the moment....the other few are in different teams...."

" But in any case, still one of the best!"

" So shall we bring out the Iron Chef of Bloody Wankers...Francis Bonnefoy!"

" Whoohoo, Francis! I love you! Feed me well today!"

"Thank you, Monsiuer Vargas, for such great enthusiasm! Beacuse of such people like you, I feel as though the amour between people grows more and more ever day!" ( Cue the pose with such confident class and air, while holding a carrot .)

" Well, then, let's talk to the Iron Chef for a few minutes...Francis, I heard that you actually have a special meaning to your name...care to clear that up?"

" But of course, mes ami! You see, dear viewers....Francis is a common name in ma belle France, used to reference the fact that I am a French man, so Francis literally means, " French man" . Bonnefoy, on the other hand, is split into two parts, " bonne" meaning good and "fois" is , my dear ladies and gentlemen, in essence....I am but a French man, who's all about the _good time_."( Cue wink. In the distance, a faint , " Kyaa!" could be heard.)

" Er-m.. and yes....thank you, Francis, for the spectacular remark. I'm sure all those fangirls who have awaited this moment for a long time have appreciated the fanservice..."

" But of course! My fangirls...and boys deserve nothing but the best!"

" So what do you have to say to your challenger today, Francis?"

" Ah...For that matter...I wish all the best to that challenger...and if he needs comforting after the contest? He would be surrounded by the amour that is Francis Bonnefoy! There would certainly be someone that would be having a _good time_ tonight!"

" Please don't make me murder you, Francis."

" Now, now, contestants are not allowed to kill each other today..."

" Now erm...maybe you can introduce our challenger to the Iron Chef of today?"

" Ah...well, ladies and gentleman. The challenger to the Iron Chef is going to be one Arthur Kirkland, who's 18, loves unicorns and fairies, and has been ranked in the top 5 spot for best speaker in the Debating Leagues for the past 3 years!"

" Woah, really, Artie?"

" You git! Stop calling me that!"

" Ah, and here is the challenger himself! All the way from the cockney streets of West Ham, who plays soccer-"

" I'm from London, ya sodding Wanker! And I play football!"

" Which nobody really cares about....It's Arthur!"

" Erm, yes thank you. I hope that the best man wins, nothing much else. Can we start already?"

" Well, looks like someone's eager to go ! But we've gotta introduce the judges of the competition! Leona, do you know the man that has served time in the army and his life for 35 years before starting a school? And he still looks great for his age!"

" You know he does!"

" So let's welcome the main judge....Principal Vargas!"

" Whoohoo, yay to me ! Yay to me!"

" Yes, erm...thank you sir..."

' Yeah....so what do you have to say to the contestants, sir?"

" Well, that should be easy, Jones! I just want you lads to know that it doesn't matter who wins, as long as we get good food tonight!"

" Well, said sir....so with that, shall we proceed with the cooking regulations!"

* * *

Arthur nervously stood by his position next to Francis, fidgeting .

He knew that it was going to be tough, considering the fact that he had challenged Francis Bonnefoy of all people to a match of culinary skills. Of all things, culinary skills. If he was considered intelligent before, this move would have made people reconsider.

To top it off, he was wearing that pink confection of an apron. In front of Francis and Alfred. While there was a camera rolling to film his downfall.

He wondered what would they name the film that would showcase such a thing. The Death of A British Boy? The First Time A French Defeated a Brit in Something? Pretty in Pink 2? God, he was a nervous wreck to even think of such a thing.

To top it off, Francis was right there, grinning away as though he had no care in the world. Was he actually blowing kisses to the camera? God, what a prat.

But damn he was good at what he did. Bloody brilliant in it too. What was he going to do?

" So the rules are, chefs, you both have 45 minutes to prepare your meals. Chefs are to make one dish at the least, and you are to go along with the theme of the challenge today. After which, chefs are to present 3 servings of the meals to the main judge, Mr Vargas, as well as to me and Leona, so that we can give scores to both chefs. After which, the winner of the challenge would be decided by a point system, which each judge giving a maximum of ten points. " Leona recited from the card, while Alfred stood next to her , his charisma brimming from him like a bubbling cauldron. The fairies said once that Alfred had a golden aura around him, much like the rays of the sun.

" Yeap , people! So let's get right on it! I hope that what they have is good for me to eat!" said the bubbly emcee.

" I know what's next to me is good enough to eat..." a murmur was heard in his ear. Arthur bristled at the comment, and was about to retort when suddenly, Alfred's booming voice was heard.

" Contestants, your theme for the challenge is...." Leona went over to a cloth covered stone and pulled it off, revealing a stuffed chicken plushie and a picture of a fish. All the younger members stared at the items, while the principal Vargas beamed happily.

"Why is there a chicken plushie there? Who on earth brings a chicken plushie to the island like that?!" yelled out Arthur, breaking out of his nervous mode and shouting in disbelief over the items.

" Ah, Rosalinda, there you are."

'Who the hell names a chicken plushie Rosalinda? And did you just name the chicken plushie? Was there any need to? It's an inanimate object!"

" Ahaha! Don't make fun of Rosalinda! It has delicate feelings, you know!" shouted back Alfred as he ran forth to the chicken plushie and went to hug it.

" No seriously, I think you're the one with something delicate...like your skull....."muttered Arthur.

" So the theme of the challenge today seems to be the use of chicken and fish, which is lucky for the contestants, as there is plenty to be found on this island!" continued Alfred, ignoring the muttered insults of Arthur.

"The chicken and the fish ingredients in the challenge are from the tireless efforts of our spnsors, so let us thank Principal Vargas for his contribution to the Iron Chef Competition." Leona chirped in happily .

Arthur spotted on his workstation ( which consisted of a small fire made with twigs, a few mess tins and pots ,some implements and tiny fish and a chicken.) and began to worry. He had never really tried making fish and chicken before...Well he had, but it was a practice run, not really a real test. He never really managed to ask anyone to taste his food. He thought it seemed fine, but he hadn't let Ms Hedavary taste it herself for confirmation...There was no way he was going to win in this situation.

However, the thought of seeing the grin on Alfred's face if he had...

He had to smile at that. Damn the American Idiot for reducing him to that way!

" And with this...." Alfred and Leona said together. " The Contestants will start to cook!"

* * *

As both Francis and Arthur had started cooking , and Principal Vargas was happily composing a song for the competition ( he wanted to call it "Culinary Passions Of Fire") . Leona, sitting on the giant rock, had turned to observe Alfred, who was currently fiddling with the camera again and was replaying the film for any problems.

She knew that Arthur had a crush on this one, back during the first day they met. Arthur had stomped over to the cafeteria table with the blonde boy in tow and had gruffly introduced them to him. The bunch had welcomed him and allowed him to sit with them, and throughout the hour, the usual Arthur and Francis barb exchange had commenced, while the rest of them talked to Alfred and got to know him better.

Suddenly, Alfred had made a comment, a small one, on the British empire and Arthur's attention had been diverted. The two argued hard while the rest of the table were shocked and tried to adjust to the new situation. While Arthur was certain a prickly character, until then, the only student that got on his nerves like that was Francis. Now the dynamics had changed. Arthur had not only interrupted his own argument with Francis, he was now arguing more often with Alfred. They even had a ritual of tea throwing that he participated in everyday. Considering it was his beloved tea, it was rather weird that he didn't fight hard enough for his tea to be thrown into the school pond.

So Arthur had a crush on this guy. But what about Alfred?

Leona could never really figure the kid out. Sure, Alfred was, at a first glance, a happy, wholesome, sometimes idiotic teenager. But was that really all he was? She felt worried for Arthur. She had learnt about debating under him and over the years, she had regarded him to be somewhat like an older brother and mentor. And Alfred was a decent guy, despite his over brashness and his acting like a child . He and Arthur were perfect for each other.

But did Alfred really think that way?

Just when Leona was pondering the question, Alfred, who had finished his fiddling with the camera, came back.

' Leona,I think we've have more minutes left over than I thought we did, so we're gonna do an extra interview with the main judge or something like that to fill up the minutes...whaddya think?" asked Alfred, looking serious as he did when it came to filming.

" Erm...that would be fine..."

" Oh and I wanted to ask you something..." Alfred said, as he put down the camera and turned to face Leona, seemingly troubled. " You're....not dating Arthur, are you?"

Leona was so shocked that she nearly fell off the rock. Struggling to get back on the rock, she shouted ," What on earth's live world did you think I was dating Arthur?!"

Alfred looked so embarrassed that he ducked his head in shyness." Well, you know...you've known him longer than I have...and then you're in the same club as he is...and you're always with him..." he muttered, looking embarrassed, an uncharacteristic move for him.

Leona laughed. " No, Arthur's a nice guy, but I won't date him. He's been crushing on someone else for a long while anyway, and the guy's so dense that he'll never find out .So Arthur's taken already, and I wouldn't dream of stealing him away."

Alfred looked outraged at the news. " Oh...and this guy doesn't know Arthur likes him? God, who is this cad? He's like a supervillain !"

That's when it clicked for Leona. Alfred liked Arthur back too!

Overjoyed for her friend, Leona decided that she had to give Alfred a clue to Arthur's feelings ." Look, the guy's not so bad. I'm sure he just doesn't know how Arthur thinks about him. And hes a bit of an idiot as well, so he's most likely a dope and doesn't know how to react...."

Alfred's eyes widened and Leona smirked inwardly. I_f you're smart enough to catch on my hints, you'll start acting on them already!_ , She added silently in her mind, trying to send a telekinetic message to penetrate his skull. _Get Arthur, Get Arthur, Get Arthur! Tell him today ! Or soon! Tell him soon!_

" Leona! You know who this person is that Arthur likes!" shouted Alfred, grabbing Leona's shoulders and staring at her deeply into her eyes, trying to figure the truth , analyzing any movement in her eyes.

Calmly , Leona grabbed one of the boy's wrist and twisted it, making him scream and release his hold on her. Adjusting her shoulders, she replied, " Of course I do. It's relatively easy once you figure it out."

Careful not to grab her, Alfred asked again, trying to contain his eagerness. " Well, at least give me a hint! Who is this bastard?"

Grinning, Leona glibly said. " Well, you know him quite well , he has blonde hair, blue eyes, is an idiot and argues with Arthur all the time! Know anyone like that?"

Alfred frowned and Leona tensed in anticipation. _Get it in your thick skull already, you American Idiot! _She prayed . When something that seemed to be a sort of light dawned on Alfred's face , Leona released that breath she never realised she was holding. Finally, he got it!

However, the light on his face quickly turned into a scowl. " That French cad ! "

Now this was a new development.

" Hey, wait a minute!"

Alfred held up a hand. " It's okay, Leona. I get what you mean. Arthur's in love with the French guy who doesn't even know about his feelings! What a Frog! He's going to get it, if you ask me!"

He then ran off somewhere, to which Leona could only react , ' What just happened?"

* * *

"And It's the end of the 40 minutes mark, which means that contestants only have 5 more minutes to finish up their masterpieces and serve them to the judges!" Announced Alfred, who had earlier came back to the video camera station.

Arthur's hand froze. It was that long already? He wasn't ready yet! He glanced over at his mess tins and his pots. One of them contained a chicken soup and the other a fried fish sorta dish along with garnished vegetables. He was currently finishing the vegetables when he realised that he did not have any dessert.

He looked over at his opponents table and wanted to scream. Francis, damn French as he was, had made some sort of roasted chicken over the fire while he had cut our fish shapes out of his fish and grilled them over the fire with some sort of sauce. The damn blonde was now happily cutting vegetables and fruits and tossing them separately into two bowls.

Damn it, why couldn't he be more like him! He didn't seem to have any injuries at all, damn arsehole that he was. He glanced at his hands , and saw the tip of his index finger , still cut from chopping up the vegetables. The back of his left hand still smarted from when he grabbed the hot pot and accidently splashed some hot soup on his hands.

He may have been injured, but that doesn't mean that he would give up! His English Honour was at stake!

He quickly glanced around and saw it, a random coconut was sitting innocently next to his basket. Quickly carrying it, he took a knife and cut off the top part, looking down into the drink. Ah , there was juice inside. He then found a cheesy looking mini umbrella and put it at the top of the coconut. There. Now he could finish up on serving the rest of his food.

* * *

Alfred was feeling very unsatisfied.

Sure, it wasn't his business whom Arthur dated. In fact, didn't his mom say once that as long as the person has found happiness, it was the ultimate form of love or something like that? That was what his mom always said when he asked about the reasons behind the divorce.

His father always said that his mother was more in love with freedom than being married.

Whatever, this was not the time to think of his parents, who, come to think about it, weren't really the best examples of love to learn from.

The point was, Arthur was in love with that....

With .....

Argh, goddamnit, now he couldn't even say his name out!

And now it was time for the tasting! He'll have to swallow that ass's food down! God help him!

Though now that he thought about it...wasn't Arthur a bad cook too?

He just couldn't make up his mind which was worse swallowing.

He checked the time. Ah,it was almost 30 seconds to 45 minutes. They'd have to finish up soon. And they were too, Arthur flustering and serving up some soup like concoction while Francis was calmly chopping up parsley.

"30 SECONDS LEFT!" he shouted, his eye on the watch. Leona , who was interviewing the principal smilingly wrapped up the interview, and the principal seemed to be happily waving her goodbye.

" How much time do we have left?" asked Alfred as she plonked the camera in front of him. He quickly grabbed it and started exchanging batteries.

" Well, we have 15 minutes on the tape left, I believe it should be sufficient for our needs, no?" said Leona, opening the camera stand and quickly setting it up. As Alfred passed her the camera, she screwed it on and attached it. Alfred switched it on and pressed record, then ran forth to the front of the camera.

" 15 SECONDS!" He shouted, and the atmosphere around the cooking stations became even more frantic. Arthur seemed to get more flustered, his face turning red with anxiousness.

Though that shade of red seemed to go nicely with that apron he was wearing, tee hee.

------------

" 10!"

Arthur heard the shout and for the moment was even more panic stricken than before. 10 seconds! He was placing the food on the table and was trying to add more parsley to the top of the fish when it resounded. Even as he threw the parsley off, the shout of "9" came forth and reached "8" as he grabbed the mess tin. He raced forward to place the food on the table and rushed back another two more times for the other mess tin and the coconut.

Francis was doing the same, though he did it more gracefully and more sedately, his movements oozing with confidence and dominance. If Arthur could see him at this point, he would have screamed in fury over the way Francis still looked normal despite chopping, preparing and cooking for 45 minutes, while his apron was in a mess, his messy blonde hair looked even more unruly and he had sweat all over him.

The shouts were on "4" , and Arthur couldn't help but be more nervous.

" 3"

"2"

"1!"

" AND YOUR TIME IS UP!!!!"At that shout, suddenly a bag of ripped paper fell onto both Arthur and Francis, narrowly missing the food. Arthur looked surprised, while Francis was more nonchalant about it, happily posing with the confetti falling around him. If the pieces of paper were pink, it would have looked as though rose petals had fallen on him.

Leona stared at the confetti. "Okay." She said slowly, trying to figure out what had just happened. : Who did that?"

Alfred, who was smiling , immediately had his hand up in an enthusiastic gesture." We needed special effects! And we didn't have confetti, so I used this!"

Arthur said sternly, " Do you not have any concern for the environment?" as he glanced at the pieces of paper that fluttered into his hands. Mostly of the paper had landed on his head and it looked very much like a pile of snow had landed on Arthur's blonde head. Well, if a tropical country like Singapore had turned itself from the equator and had snow in the middle of whatever month it was.

Ignoring the remarks, Alfred said. "Well, we'll now have a 2 minute break. Do whatever you need to do, like use the can or freshen up or whatever."

* * *

" No."

" You gotta wear this! If you and I wear this, we'll be matching!"

" Who wants to match clothes with you? We're competing contestants, not high school girls!"

" But this would look splendid on you! And besides, it'll show off that body that you're so afraid of showing...."

" Fuck off! This is a family oriented fanfic! If we actually do this, we'll scar the minds of many young impressionable children out there!"

* * *

In the end, he was forced to wear it.

" It's not so bad, Arthur!" reassured Leona, who had passed by while Francis was dressing Arthur up. "Although you're giving him too much skin, Francis. Be careful, there are mosquitoes out there."

Francis scoffed. " Mosquitoes harm this heavenly body? That would indeed be a crime....a crime against one of Mother nature's greatest works of art!" He twirled around, his own apron fluffing and spinning as he did. "I feel pretty! Oh so pretty! I feel pretty and witty and bright!"

" Why can't you be bright as well in real life?" muttered Arthur as he surveyed his own outfit. He was wearing a man's shirt collar with a bow tie on it as well as cuffs, but nothing much else, exposing his chest to the world. His apron was thankfully longer than Francis's own, but that was due to some adjustment. It reached his knees now, instead of the earlier barely skimming the bottom of the butt cheek.

It was also a good thing he had PE shorts underneath. He never felt comfortable with some much air around his privates before. Didn't girls feel cold wearing dresses and skirts all the time like that?

In any case, the donning of such a humiliating outfit overrode the nervousness of presenting his food to the judges now. But now that he thought about it, the bile was creeping up his throat now and made Arthur feel a large ball had lodged itself into his throat.

Well, Providence waited for no one. Might as well go see it now.

"Welcome back to the Iron Chef! As you can see, we are about just ready to taste the food! So Main Judge Vargas! May you start the procedures!"

"Well, of course, ohohoho! " And the Principal took out his guitar and started playing a few chords. After a bit, the teammates recognised the tune as , more or less," Chariots of Fire".

" And that's the opening ceremony! Let's get the food on!" Yells Principal Vargas.

Cue the facepalms of the people.

* * *

Francis produced his first dish, which seemed to be a roasted chicken.

" That is correct, for it is a roasted chicken!" shouts Francis as he places the plate on to the table with a flourish. The author rolled her eyes and the judges , Leona, Principal Vargas and Alfred oohed and aahed over the dish. Considering the fact that the chicken has been made by Francis, it actually did warrant praise like that. The chicken was cooked to a perfect golden brown, the gleam on the skin was one that attracted the most skeleton resembling model, and the scent.....it sent spasms of nostril orgasms through the air.

Arthur had to cringe with such a beautiful dish like that. He was supposed to compete with _that_?!

" I have roasted this chicken using the herbs that I have found on this island and using that, as well as a lemon, I give you....a Lemon Roasted Chicken!" Francis placed the dish on the table with a flourish, his background changing to a more glamourised picture of the dish. Had Arthur not known any better, he would have thought that Francis was such a genius with photoshop that he was using it to manipulate the background of every scene.

But of course, that's not possible, right?

Principal Vargas seemed delighted. 'Oh ! This is indeed fine work, lad! Look at the texture of the skin! It's not too waxy, yet despite the fact that it's a roasted chicken, the skin condition of the chicken is not dry either. Impressive!" He turned to Francis and asked, "May I?"

Getting a nod of agreement, the Principal then took out a knife from his table and sliced of a piece of the chicken, revealing the flesh underneath. " It's pink, but not too undercooked, you can tell by the bone. " He popped the slice of meat into his mouth and savoured the taste slowly. " The meat is tasty, and has an overtone of the lemons and herbs....I believe this does melt in the mouth....you made the herb butter , I believe? "

Francis smiled, genuinely happy at the term , "Why, yes , sir! My own recipe! You take normal butter, put it in a bowl or a container, like 3 or 4 tablespoons of it. You add salt, spices like pepper, cayenne ,rosemary most importantly, then zest a lemon into it, mix it up until you can see it's like really one with the butter and chill it back into solid form. Only, I had to make some adjustments to the herb butter because of our location and the lack of certain ingredients.... You are a chef sir?"

" Oh no, not entirely, I only dabble in Italian food . Felici, my grandson...now there's a chef. I taught him everything I knew on food...his brother too, but then Lovi was never inclined towards cooking the same way Felici had." He sighed in reminiscence " Ah, that Lovi, always was more interested with the whole bunch of plants he has in the apartment. A few days ago, he –"

" Erm.....sir?" Leona broken in quietly, gesturing towards the camera.

" Oh yes!" Principal Vargas broke into a smile." Well, in any case, the meat is tender and its tangy, but has a bit of a bitter aftertaste...you might have to do something about it, Francis..."

" Oh yes sir!" Francis broke in hurriedly.

"But as far as culinary skills go, this is an excellent dish." He passed the dish to Alfred and Leona, both who borrowed the knife to cut off a slice for themselves.

Arthur's hopes , which was tying itself to the hopes that Francis would fail in his food, saw the boat sink into the open seas , along with the hopes he had tied there.

Leona sliced off a piece and chewed slowly. Her eyes widened and said , " This is good. God, you make a good piece of lemon chicken, Francis!"

Arthur's hopes sank a little more deeper in while Francis had just smirked." Does that mean you and me can go to , you know....shoot the breeze?" He said smugly.

Leona's eyes narrowed and said, " Don't push it, French guy. I have a sharp knife which I'm using to cut meat here. I don't want it to accidently...slip somewhere." She passed the knife to Alfred as it glinted dangerously in the light. Alfred chuckled and took the knife , slicing off a piece for himself. Arthur was now getting even more nervous, but could not help but notice a little malevolence in Alfred's blue eyes.

He did a double take. Malevolence? In _Alfred_? But he seemed normal a while ago...

Alfred took the knife and sawed off a piece , popping it into his mouth. He turned to look at Francis, scrutinizing him. Finally, he turned to Francis and went, "You. Are. God.", giving him a hug and sobbing as he did.

And Arthur knew that any chance of him impressing Alfred in culinary skills just went down the drain.

* * *

The next few minutes for Arthur passed by in a blur . Every few minutes of the three judges praising Francis's cooking just made him even more numb to the motions around him. He was too used to the fact that Francis was better than him in looks, getting the girls , not to mention guys, and actually showing emotions when they need to.

_Damn the French, damn Francis and damn the Scarlet Pimpernel for saving them when they should have died in that damn revolution!_

You do realise the Scarlet Pimpernel is a hero in a story, right?

_Shut up, Author._

In any case, Arthur was worried. Even more worried now that the Judges had awarded marks to Francis ( Principal gave a 9, Leona gave 8 and Alfred gave a 10) and were now moving on to his own food.

He was more or less numb now and had only paid attention to the food which he had covered up to keep off the flies . Hands sweaty, he placed the first dish onto the table in front of the judges and opened it.

The principal looked kindly at Arthur. " Well, Kirkland, my lad. How have you been?"

Arthur attempted to smile even though his brain was screaming hell and his eyes kept catching glances of the clueless looking American on his left. " Fine, sir. I have been fine."

" And your father? How has he been?" The principal inquired further.' Your four brothers are good too?"

Arthur inwardly snorted. His father , Percy Kirkland ,who was an ambassador from Great Britain in Singapore who served Her Majesty , was a pompous ass who did nothing but complain about the good old colonial days that the country had gone through . Only a few days ago, Arthur and he had argued over his career choices in life. While Percy Kirkland had believed that Arthur should serve as an Ambassador like he did, Arthur generally wasn't interested in such a career move. He didn't like the whole idea of kissing up to someone from another country whom he did not like. Rather, he was more interested in the more action packed government parties, who dedicated more time in helping and improving the lives of people. His father didn't take his request seriously and they had spent a few days after that ignoring each other.

Not that his brothers were of any help. James, the eldest, was a chip of the block, being rather arrogant and brash and thus sided more with his father than anyone else. Emrys ,the second brother had immersed himself into some sort of archaelogy studies which he was studying in University back in England and had no time for him. Killian and Peter....well....let's just say both brothers usually wished that he had never existed.

So the answer Arthur gave the seemingly complicated question?

A simple " Okay , sir" was the only reply he had.

The principal beamed happily.' Ah, fantastic! " He then noticed the dish Arthur had placed. " And what's this?" He said, opening the dish cover. He then stared at it a bit while Arthur fidgeted in nervous anxiety.

"Ch-chicken soup, sir." He replied, trying his best not to blush.

The principal wore a look of surprise. " Chicken soup? Not really a fine dish like what I expected, but at least you didn't blow up the kitchen like the first time , huh?"

Arthur gritted his teeth. Even the principal knew about the first time cooking fiasco? God, he really was about to step into an FML moment. " N-no sir."

" Well, at least let me get a taste of it then. " The principal declared as he dipped the spoon into the golden brown liquid. Arthur thought he could hear a gasp of anticipation from Francis and was contemplating hurting him after the competition, but he realised that Leona and Alfred seemed to be holding their breaths as well.

The principal placed some of the liquid into his mouth and looked startled for a minute. Arthur 's mind started sliding into the landslide of doom, while Leona and Alfred seemed about ready to reach into something sitting behind them. Francis seemed about to faint from the excitement at hand.

What they did not expect, however , was the principal starting to tear up and overflow from his golden orbs.

" Mon dieu!" shouted Francis, while Leona and Alfred had quickly held out the first aid kit packed with stomach medicine . Arthur's heart as well had sunk at the sight of the principal crying. Had he made a dish that had so offended the gourmet principal that he cried?

He had failed, once again , from making anything worth making. His honour was still tarnished, people would still laugh at him, Alfred would never be able to look at him like ....

" Mother."

Everybody turned to look at the principal, who seemed to be beaming in happiness despite the tears falling from his face.

Alfred placed a hand on the principal's forehead. " Is he delusional? Is he suffering from delusions from Arthur's cooking?"

Arthur, who was tearing up as well, wanted to retort , but couldn't as the principal had spoken , once again.

" This soup....it reminds me....of my mother's cooking....."

Now everybody was paying attention to the principal. ' Say what, sir?"

The principal , still tearing, continued. " The plainness, the warmth, the taste....it may just be normal chicken soup, but it still reminds me of the times my mother made chicken soup for me when i was sick. The hard work she toiled to boil the soup, the amount of time taken, and the inevitable fact that the child would always get better! " He thrust the bowl into Leona's hands, and threw himself on Arthur's shoulders. "This is wonderful! This is spectacular! Kirkland! Can I call you mother?"

Despite his being taken aback at the principal's reaction. Arthur smiled slowly. " Well, it's ...well...yes...erm...Thank you?"

Leona took a sip of the soup herself. " It's rather plain, but still edible....Arthur, has your cooking improved?"

Arthur tried to bristle at the comment, but his smile failed to keep his face looking offended. "I...am...offended ...with that comment."Inwardly, his happiness was overflowing. His cooking was edible! His cooking was edible! The fairies would be so pleased with him!

Francis snatched the spoon from Leona and took a large gulp. " Sourcils, this is indeed .....edible."

The euphoria just got bigger, and Arthur's brain orchestra started playing, " Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 " and he turned to Alfred, hoping to hear the words that he hoped to hear.

He just looked calm and said, " Well, it does taste a lot like mother's cooking...."

Arthur's brain orchestra's playing volume became a little muted as his face fell slightly.

* * *

This vein went on with the rest of Arthur's dishes. The principal cried when confronted with Arthur's fried fish, crying that, " It was ugly looking ,and so embarrassingly plain that he would never want to show it to his friends, but it was still the best thing that reminded him of a mother's love!" Leona commented that Arthur had indeed improved on his cooking, but he had left out on the garnishing, so the taste was still rather plain , the presentation would be better , and the fish would have tasted better if it had been gutted beforehand instead of being thrown into the oil first. " But it had been better than the time he had made fish cutlets resembling charcoal bits." Arthur made a cutting remark at that, but he could see that Leona was grinning when she said it, and felt himself mirroring the grin too. Francis had only mentioned a string of long ways in which the wish could have been well made into a more romantic dish before Arthur nearly shoved a spoon into his mouth. The same was said of his boiled vegetables, which were , by the principal, very plain , but as everyone agreed, still edible.

Alfred had only chewed and ate his silently.

After everyone had taken a sip of his coconut drink, which just so happened to be voted the " quaintest thing ever seen", the three judges stood in a line, facing the two chefs.

Arthur was feeling even more worse than before. Despite the praise he had received ( edible counts as praise in his book.) he was still feeling nervous about the scoring. Would he be actually able to beat Francis? He did have a higher scoring in the earlier gig, after all...

" Well, in such a case, It's good to see that Arthur has put up a good fight for the challenge..."

Arthur could feel that happiness almost overwhelm him .

" But we as the judges, have to conclude that Francis was the one who has won the challenge."

And Arthur could feel that happiness recede bit by bit till it became a desert like landscape.

* * *

" Cheer up, Arthur." Said Leona, trying to give Arthur a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Arthur could only force a smile and say, " Well, it's okay. He did win in this case. And my cooking has improved, but his is always great. It just goes to show , the better man did win. And Francis , is "( and has always been, he added silently ) "the better man."

Leona looked rather sad. " Aw...Arthur...it's not so-"

He interrupted her, though he cringed at the idea of interrupting a lady during speech. " I'm just going to. Erm. Go and well....."

Leona looked like she wanted to say something, but only replied, " Take your time, Artie" and left.

He sat down on the floor, contemplating his loss . Story of his life. No matter the good or the bad things, in the end, it always ended up the same.

He was all alone .

All by himself.

There was no one there beside him.

Wasn't that the opening lines of that song in Spamalot?

" Huh?" Arthur couldn't get what was going on in the narration. " What are you doing?"

A scream was heard and Arthur turned around, only to be confronted with the scene of Alfred holding a brown jacket . The boy's baby blue eyes were wide and held fear in them. " Omigod! A ghost! Artie's communicating with a ghost!"

Recovering from his shock, Arthur didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. " It's not a ghost, Alfred, though I have to admit that this place is famous for spirits and local magic..."Seeing the fear creep back into his eyes, Arthur quickly changed the subject." What the bloody hell do you want?"

Alfred ruffled his hair, trying to find words to say. " I just wanted to give you a jacket! It's cold out here, and you're more or less half naked and.... wait...there are spirits here?"

Good lord, the poor boy was actually frightened at the prospect of spirits being here. Was it actually possible that Alfred, despite his bravado and apparent coolness at everything else, was actually afraid of ghosts? He was actually trembling....wait , so was he.

But more due to the cold than anything else.

Trying to find a way to make him feel better, Arthur replied. "Look, don't worry. The spirits here won't attack you. And besides, don't you have the Evil Eye or something like that?"

Alfred paused to look confused. " Evil eye?" he asked.

" N-never mention I said that..." he sighed and accepted the jacket, wearing it over his shoulders. The scent of grass, sun and most of all Alfred overwhelmed him.

" Oh okay...."

The two of them fell in silence for awhile but not for long. As Arthur opened his mouth to repeat his question, Alfred himself quickly said, " I know about your crush ."

Arthur's throat seized up and his mouth opened and closed a few times without any noise coming up, highly possibly due to the seizing up of said throat. Before he had a chance to ask how had he found out, Alfred had went on.

" Well, I'll just say congrats to you . I know I've been a dickhead and all, but it's great that you've such feelings, especially considering how the guy you like is a total douche and all."

Well, admittedly, Alfred couldn't be considered a douche. An idiot, yes, but not really a douche. Trying to clear it up, Arthur made a noise, much like a cat, but Alfred had continued rolling on.

" So in any case, whenever you need help in anything, you can call on me!"

Arthur, who didn't expect that, looked at him curiously and said, " Excuse me?"

Alfred seemed to be grinning, but it seemed a little strained. " Yeah, you know. Me being the superhero and all, I gotta dispense my justice to the world, ya know? And then all the villains will fear me and my cool powers! So in any case, if that cad does anything bad to you, you can put out the Alfred signal, and I'll be there!"

An image of a chibi Alfred shadow appearing a la Batman Signal floated in Arthur's mind, but it also registered something weird with Alfred's grandiose speech. " Wait a bloody minute. Did you just say, " cad"?"

Alfred was more enthusiastic this time, his gestures becoming more violent by the minute. " Yeah, if that French guy does anything weird to you, like erm....feed you some of his smelly cheese or something, you can call me , and I'll stuff that cheese up-"

" Wait." Arthur was now getting the picture, albeit on a TV with very low reception. "You think....I'm in love with a French guy?"

" Yeah! " said Alfred, throwing one of his hands back much like one throwing back a cape. "You seem to have gone all stupid for a guy in Debates. It's the love of Francis making you this way, huh?"

" ..."

"I mean, you were rather dumb before, but if you being in love with Francis makes you that way, the hero has to step in!"

"......"

"For that matter, is that the reason when he pinned you down , it took you nearly 2 minutes to get up?"

"WHAT THE BLOODY LEVELS OF HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Alfred looked frightened at the sudden outburst and nervously looked around, "Quiet! The ghosts will come back again!"

At the moment Arthur couldn't care less for ghosts." You think I'm in love with _Francis_?!"

Alfred tilted his head in a questioning manner and said. "Yeah. Iggy, has your brains really turned into scones?"

Arthur , flabbergasted at Alfred's revelation ,could only stare at Alfred .

Alfred misinterpreted the look and started screaming. "Oh my god! Shizzo Iggo's unable to say anything! His brain has been replaced by a scone, and there are ghosts here and the zombie that replaced his brain for the scone's coming to get me!!!"

Arthur came back to his senses and saw Alfred spazzing out even more. Without warning, a small chuckle came out of his mouth. It slowly evolved into a cackle and then further into a rumbling laugh. It was much like watching the change of a small toy train into a rumbling coal train.

" What's so funny?" demanded Alfred , looking rather scared.

Trying to contain his mirth, Arthur replied, between giggles. "The idea....Francis...and me! Oh god, you got 've a great sense of humour."

Alfred tried to interpret the speech within giggles, but got as far to, "Wait, you're not in love with Francis?"

" Whatever gave you the brilliant idea?" Arthur deadpanned as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

Relief flooded into Alfred's face. "Oh that's great! Cause I love having to rescue the damsel in distress all the time and stuff. And frankly, you're not a damsel. "

Now Arthur got a bit more irritated. "Damsel? Do I look like one to you?"

Alfred grinned. "Nah. More like one of the damned to me."

Before Arthur could get more riled up, Alfred bent down and whispered into his ear, his breath tickling the smaller blonde's ear. "You know, your cooking wasn't all that bad."

The smaller boy froze, but his mouth reacted instead, meeting the American boy's own.

Before they knew it, they were into each other's arms, kissing more lovingly. Alfred's arms tightened around Arthur's form and for a moment, Arthur felt more than he ever did. Not when he was at home, not with his father and rarely with his brothers.

It was like coming home.

He crouched up and asked softly, "My cooking really wasn't that bad?"

Alfred smiled. " Reminded me of my own mother's."

Arthur hugged him again.

" In fact, I think you can be my new mother. You already act like some crotchety old lady anyway."

"Stop hugging me and let me kill you."

* * *

In the unobserved area, behind a tree, Francis Bonnefoy, undefeated Iron Chef , playboy extraordinaire, was smiling as well, albeit with a sad glance at the embracing couple.

Leona glanced at him. " You sure you want this? You did have a crush on him for a very long time as well."

Francis chuckled sadly ." Rosbif and I were never meant to be. Besides, that crush was over since I knew of his affections of the American boy. "

" But what about that chocolate cake you made last Valentine's ?" asked Leona. " You even added a moat and a castle and everything!"

"Well, he and I both know that it was a joke and that we had to play it up for the crowd." Francis said. " Sourcils and I pretend we hate each other, but we're also the best friends since childhood. And that will never change."

Leona didn't reply.

Suddenly, Francis's manner changed as the background changed into one of hearts. " Besides, my own heart was stolen by that first year girl in Sourcil's brother's class! Ah, such a cute girl! In fact, you look a lot like her, Leona, mon Cherie."

" Who , Sarah Michelle?"

" Oui, but she prefers the shorter version of her name. Seychelles." Francis smiled widely. ' In fact, you two could almost be twins, if not for the curlier ends of your hair and the more enthusiastic nature of yours!"

" Is that why you keep molesting me?"

" Ah, Leona, such an uncouth manner! You shall be punished severely by giving the Iron Chef a hug!"

" Don't push it, Frenchie."

* * *

And that was how Team Bloody Wankers finished their third task.

Later, in the night, evidence of bonding between team members could be seen in a better effect. Arthur and Alfred still argued, but there was more civil and more friendly conversation happening. Arthur was actually smiling and laughing more, though he denied any such change and even shot the middle finger to Francis for even suggesting it. Francis was still the big brother to them all, and was willing to teach them how to "photoshop" their background to greater effects in their and Arthur still argued, and still called each other nonsensical names like Teletubby or box. Leona sat there, just glad that everyone was happy together.

But weren't we forgetting someone?

* * *

Principal Vargas curled up in his sleeping bag, happy that his team was getting along so well and that his belly was full of good food.

Around his arms laid the chicken plushie Rosalinda .

" You know, the school drama production team does have cute props." He said blearily as he fell asleep.

------------

**Argh-thor's note: This took me years to finish....I nearly cried my brains out while writing this. I'll like to acknowledge all those who read this story, like my poor fren YJ , who had to listen to me bitch and my paranoid pleas over four weeks of writing this fic. Credits to my chef friend Laurent for the chicken. Seriously, I have no idea there was such a thing as herb butter. That's why you and Melvin are the chefs in our group.**

**Okay, Family dynamics!**

**Percy Kirkland struck me the minute I said that Arthur's father was a poofy, stuck up guy. The fact that his name is shared by another certain stuffy guy called Percy Weasley is purely confidential. Also the initials amused me. P.K. in a certain dialect is slang for, " deserved it" mostly said when something bad happens.**

**James is basically Scotland and takes after Percy the most. Reddish brown hair and bright green eyes....yeah, he looks a lot like his dad. He's training in the same line as his father, who's an ambassador. Acts a lot like Percy too, so a bit pompous, idiotic, and rather arrogant. Named after the fact that its a tradition to name the first born boy after their grandparents in Scotland, which explained why there were a lot of James around in the old times.**

**Emrys is the second brother, also known as Wales. Brown hair and blue eyed, he's interested in archaelogy and mythology. Named after the legends of Merlin Emrys. right now studying history , archaelogy and mythology back in England, so rarely comes back home except during holidays. Was the one who taught Arthur the most about fairies and mythological creatures and possibly his favourite brother, if not for the fact that he only comes home during Christmas cause he's working as a TA at the same tim.**

**Arthur's the third son. A strong debator, blonde haired, green eyed. The blonde hair probably came from their deceased mother, who was blonde as well, but blue eyed.**

**Killian also known as North Ireland. If you've done North Ireland history, you can understand that NI is a conflicted area, especially with Britain. As such, Killian is a rebellious boy who goes drinking and dates girls , the resident bad boy of the lot. Looks a lot like James too, except he has blue eyes instead of green. Is two years younger than Arthur.**

**Peter, as we all know, Sealand. Never acknowledges that Arthur's his older brother, and hangs out more with Berwald and Tino , who are in the elder student younger student attachment in school. He's even calling them brothers and calls Arthur jerk. But then again, I think he'll acknowledge him one day.**

**Francis used to have a crush on Arthur, but never admitted it, so he dates a lot. Sad, huh?**

**So, what are you waiting for? Review, if u wanna!**


	8. While There Are Two Sides to Every Story

**Chapter 8: While There Are Two Sides to Every Story, Everybody Believes That Their Side Is Always Weirder Than The Other.**

Darkness surrounded the area.

It was a scene many would have described as a place they wished they never had to be in their lives .The rain was heavily pouring, contributing to the idea of grey skies above. Evidence of many battles , blood, severed parts and bodies laid on the ground, piling up on each other and fulfilling its name as a no man zone. Only if one were to squint hard enough could they make out two figures in the horizon.

Both of them stared at each other as they contemplated the other person's move. They were identical, both having a mop of silver blonde hair, near white, which framed identical squared jawlines ,chiselled good looks and narrowed, steel blue eyes. It would have been like staring into a mirror, if not for the fact that both of them were dressed in different colours, one in a blue jacket that ended up to his ankles, with red lapels and golden edging, while the other was in red, also ending at his ankles.

The one wearing blue smirked, his gloved hands twitching . " So brother. How long has it been since our last reunion?"

The other jerked , almost reaching for his sword at his back. " Hm....wasn't that during Thanksgiving when you did an awful crap job of carving that turkey?"

" If you mean that bird demon, yeah well, that was unexpected."the first man replied, not giving up his stare on the other's face." But that didn't stop you from getting into my plans. Again. "

" I'm not the one that wants to get father's power to become super strong." The one in red said tersely. " What are you up to now, Vergil? "

" Why , can't I be concerned over family, baby brother?" Vergil asked smoothly as he paced in a circle, his brother following the same stance. It was almost like a dance , an orbit of the planets as they moved in a smooth circle.

His younger brother snorted, " We're twins, brother. I know what's in that mind of yours again. And you're not getting it."

" Dante, Dante..." Vergil sighed." Even after so long? You still don't understand the dynamics of my plan...."

" Well, you're not getting what you want." Declared Dante. " Not without me in the way."

Vergil chuckled softly. " And that's why , baby brother, I believe I have no choice but to do this."

Suddenly, a lash of swords as both brothers grabbed their swords for attack. Vergil 's katana Yamato clashed against Dante's sword Rebellion , both brothers trying to force their way past the other's defences.

" Give it up, Dante. " whispered Vergil. " You know you can't beat me...Foolishness, Dante. Foolishness. Might controls everything. And without strength, you cannot protect anything. Let alone yourself"

Dante struggled , then said, " Not...on YOUR LIFE!" striking hard against his brother's defense. However, Vergil was swifter, and parried that stroke with one of his own. Both brothers tried to break against the other, tension thick as steel.

And then suddenly....

" BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!BEHOLD YOU TWO PANSY ASSES! THE AWESOME HAS ARRIVED!"

Another silver haired man swooped in and landed next to them, arms on his hips, face planted with a cocky smirk.

Both brothers stared at the intruder. While he looked quite alike to the two of them, his hair was slightly shorter and spikier , which framed demonic red eyes, looking as though it had seen so much blood spilling that his eyes had adopted the same look. Also, he was wearing a coat similar to Vergil, blue with red lapels and gold edging, but he had a small yellow bird on his shoulder, wearing a smaller version of the outfit as well as a hat.

The two stared at him a little while more. Then Vergil broke the silence.

"Dante, if you're gonna bring your toy boy sidekick along with us, at least make him wear a dress and give him boobs."

The newcomer snorted. "EX-CUSE me? The awesome me a sidekick? Don't you recognise your youngest brother when you see him?"

Now all hell broke loose.

"He's who?!" shouted Dante.

"Technically, I'm actually born at the same time as you guys, so I'm the third triplet, Gilbert. And by the way, I'll have you know that I'll be awesome looking as a girl. West's friend Feli-chan drew me like one once, I still have the pictures."

Dante sputtered, "Who the hell is West and Feli-chan?! And for that matter, I never remembered a brother named Gilbert! Two brothers?! I'm so screwed."

Vergil was popping open a bag of lemon drops." Hm...another brother...." his eyes glinted " You do not perhaps have the power of Sparda with you as well?"

" Oy, don't change the subject here!" Dante shouted. " Who the fuck is he, and why is he even here?"

The third brother was apparently not even listening, " Ah, is this hell? This is so much more cooler than I imagined!

" Hey are you even listening over here!"

" Dante, stop your spazzing. Gilbert here seems to be having fun." An amused Vergil was sitting down, suckling on a lemon drop. " And if he joins my side, we'll be able to complete the ceremony to get the gates to open."

Dante laughed, " That's what you think. Have you forgotten about me?"

Vergil laughed as well, " And you seemed to have forgotten that there are three here, if Gilbert joins my side, it'll be two against one. Guess who loses."

Both brothers locked eyes, then ...

"Hey, Gilbert! If you're really my brother, come join me! We can kick serious ass here!" shouted Dante, waving his hands.

" Do not go with the imbecile!" shouted Vergil. "Gilbert, join my side. Together, we can be invincible!"

Gilbert finally caught attention of what was going on, and took out his sword, only to attack both brothers. Both brothers , taken aback, laid sprawled on their backs.

" You two are so weird. " said Gilbert as he replaced his sword. " I am Gilbert, son of Sparda and I declare myself the most awesome son of them all! Kneel before me!"

" Okay, you know what? He's the enemy. Let's get him." Muttered Dante , massaging the bump on his head when he fell over.

Vergil growled," Very well..."

" Bwahahahhahaha! I'm Gilbert Sparda, school is for losers...."sang Gilbert as he did a victory dance." I shall have some of those victory pancakes! Milady! Where are you? I want those pancakes!"

A female with black cropped hair came in. " Dante, what are you doing on the floor?"

" Hey, pretty girl! Can you make pancakes?" grinned Gilbert as he sauntered over to her, leering as he did.

Lady smirked." Pancakes? You gotta be kidding me. I can't cook."

" What?" Now Gilbert looked shocked. "You can't cook? That can't be .....why aren't you blonde?"

" Blonde?" the girl grinned. " If I was blonde, I would have killed myself a long while ago." She laughed at the thought." God, me as a blonde."

Dumbfounded, the third Sparda Brother looked at his hands. Something was dreadfully wrong.

No pancakes? And why had he thought that Lady was a blonde?

As he wondered, his head started pounding heavily . Screaming in pain, he held his head , while bending forward on the ground as images of a blonde girl with big violet eyes started to invade him.....his name kept being shouted back at him...Gilbert....Gilbert!

'GILBERT!"

* * *

Matthew Williams, at this point in the story aged 18 and 10 months, was now overly afraid that he had contributed to the death of one Gilbert Beilschmidt, aged 26. He was in near tears by now, but knew that crying did not help the situation. So he started working.

While propping the young man against a tree , he had grabbed a towel from his pack, pressing it against the gaping wound on Gilbert's head, still bleeding. He also started checking for other injuries. Examining the purpling bruises on Gilbert's knees ( Did he really jump on him that hard? Ouchies) and the other bruise over his eye, Matthew sighed in relief, not it didn't take his mind off worrying. Gilbert didn't have any other obvious injuries. That was a good thing.

But the man was still unconscious.

Well, that had to be a bad thing.

Thus began Matthew's mission to try and wake Gilbert up.

He had tried shaking him. Slapping his face a little, and even resorted to calling out " Gilbo Baggins" ( hey, he heard Alfred refer to him once like that, he might as well get a try on it.). It didn't work, and Matthew was getting more terrified as he tried every move that crossed his mind.

None of them worked.

Frantically flipping through every single attempted move to revive a person, he then remembered one. The Disney Movies Sexual Harrassment Scene.

Also known as "kissing the princess while she/he was asleep and she/he waking up, to many voyeurs' ( mostly woodland creatures' and occasional dwarves') delight".

Immediately blushing and looking immensely uncomfortable at the thought of kissing a guy , especially one as fine as Gilbert Beilschmidt (' DO NOT SAY FINE! Oh good lord, you've started taking after Alfred in Vocabulary!" a voice moaned in his head. Curious and a little weirded out as to why his inner voice would sound awfully like Arthur, Matthew tried to block it out. ), Matthew started to contemplate this new idea.

_He's turning paler by the minute, you gotta do something! said his brain._

_Excuse me, that would mean that he's going to do something that he'll regret_! Shouted his inner voice. _As the brain you gotta do something rational! What are you doing? _

_Considering you're the inner voice, you're more or less his conscience. I get to control what he does. Bwahaha to me. _

_You can't do that! That's cheating! Matthew, listen here seriously! What would kissing do? It's a totally useless move!_

_Hey, you tried the rational ideas, now you gotta try everything you can. _

_This is reality, you git like doofus of a brain! _

_Poof._

_Did you just call me a poof? I'll show you poof!_

While Matthew's brain and Matthew's inner voice/conscience started fighting, Matthew was looking around and contemplating his ideas. No one was around, Gilbert would die if he didn't wake up soon, he might as well do it, embarrassing though it may be. He did owe the guy a favour after all.

Slowly, in a move that would have gotten fangirls all over the world screaming in a unanimous motion ( prompting news investigations as well as an inquiry from the police to find out just what was the situation with girls and screaming) , Matthew decided that since it would not hurt to try, he would attempt to do what Prince Charming did.

( This meant that his brain, treacherous as it was, had kidnapped the inner voice and threw him into the moat. His brain was very pleased.)

Hesitantly, he bent down towards the pale man's face, towards the area where his pink lips were and gave a light brush of the lips.

No reaction.

He tried again, this time giving the lips longer contact.

Nothing.

Tears now rolling off his eyes like a cascade of a fountain, Matthew threw himself on him and cried, clutching tightly.

" Gilbert! Please wake up! At least tell me you'll be fine or something! I'll call you sama everyday! Wake up, Gilbert, wake up! I'll....make pancakes or something....I'll figure something out! Wake up Gilbert....GILBERT!"

An eye cracked open to fix its red pupil on him. " God....milady...you're wetting my favourite shirt...."

" I'm sorry... I'll get you a new one..." Matthew said, absentmindedly. Then he realised .

" Argh!!! Gilbert! You're alive!"

"And I told you....stop crying....I don't have any more t-shirts for you to douse in water with...."moaned Gilbert as he opened his other eye.

The blonde blushed at the comment and made a mental note to stop crying in front of Gilbert. It was just too embarrassing and he seemed as though he was developing into a cry baby in front of him. Meanwhile, Gilbert struggled slightly as he brought a hand to his head.

"Ow....why does my brain hurt like as though I've been drinking all night , except Brit Boy isn't here?" groaned the paler man as he scrunched up his eyes in pain. Trying to move his body parts to see if there was any damage, he grimaced when he moved his left foot.

" Why is my ankle swelling? What exactly did I do?"

Matthew facefaulted slightly as he struggled to find a way to explain to the older man what had happened." Erm...you were running in when suddenly you tripped over Kuraemon over there." ( gesturing towards said bear, who was happily chewing on some grass. No asking why.)

" Say no more...I think I figured out the rest...."muttered Gilbert as he tried to move his foot. Wincing as he did, he went, " Okay, besides my ankle and my head, which is hurting as thought Crazy Psycho Bitch has been at it a few times...do I have any other problems I should be aware about?"

Matthew stammered as he replied, " Well....you have a bruise over one eye..."

" WHAT!" shouted Gilbert, immediately raising his hands over to his face and placing his fingertips on his face to try and figure it out. Feeling a frisson of pain from above his right eye, he groaned slightly." Well , that tears it. Damn...."

"Don't worry....I'm sure it won't affect your eyesight or anything. It seems rather superficial..."

"HAH! I got it! I can say that I got the bruise from trying to rescue you! Whoohoo!"

Matthew facepalmed. After all that worry...

* * *

" Where is bruder and Matthew?" muttered Ludwig as he paced back and forth, arms folded and his eyebrow crease growing. Feliciano, who had , while waiting for them, been eating a chocolate chip cookie in his bag and was now digging in his bag for more.

" Should we go and look for them now?" inquired the dozy little Italian boy as he unwrapped a macademian nut cookie from its translucent kling was worried for Gilbert and that new kid, Matthew. He liked them both. Matthew's bear was a smart bear, so Matthew was already a smart guy! So , for that reason alone, Matthew was already considered as family. Anybody who taught a bear that pasta was delicious must love pasta too... and thus, Matthew was considered as family.

And family meant that Feliciano was worried too.

Ludwig stood still, his arms still folded, but with one hand under his chin as though he was pondering what else to do. While he was concerned over the fact that it had been 30 minutes and the two of them still hadn't come back, they were also due to meet at Team 3's campsite in 10 minutes to start their challenge.

He supposed that he and Feliciano could find them together, but there were a few flaws with the idea.

Firstly, although Ludwig had the map with him to be able to check on the routes, this was however the first time he had been on the island and he had not charted the territory before. Thus, it was perhaps a little nervousness on Ludwig's part to be able to find his brother.

There was also the matter of Feliciano .Ludwig knew that despite what he had seen during the fighting arena where Feliciano could clearly hold his own, he also remembered the last time they separated to find someone. They found Feliciano 2 hours later, happily playing with a pair of cats and singing Italian Opera , with three other cats as backup.( Heracles had adopted all 5 cats later on and Feli still visited them with Ludwig every week).

So , separating to find his brother and missing teammate was not a good idea. Yet if they were to stick together to find them....the last accident that Feliciano had while they were together searching for someone involved a batch of cotton candy, ten cats , an angry Cotton Candy handler and a disgruntled duck. Needless to say, the two were banned from the Botanical Gardens for a long while.

Thus, Ludwig decided that he had to deposit Feliciano off first to Team 3 before starting his search expedition.

He turned to Feliciano , who was happily starting to resemble a hamster with his puffed out cheeks while he was happily chewing on the edge of the cookie. Struck by the fact that Feliciano did look rather adorable in his impersonation of Alvin, Simon or Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks ( though in Feliciano's case he did most resemble the cute smaller plump chipmunk), Ludwig nevertheless steeled his heart and gave Feliciano his decision.

The resulting reaction from Feliciano was something that Ludwig wished he never had to do again. The unhappy Italian boy whined and pleaded to go with Ludwig to find his relatives in Singapore and was willing to give up a bowl of gelato, ten packs of pasta and even go through night guard duty to help Ludwig find them.

" No " a stern Ludwig replied, as he dragged Feliciano through the forest and into the clearing that signified that they were getting closer to Team 3's campsite. " It's too dangerous and I don't want you getting lost. Now I'm going to deposit you over to the campsite. You do miss your brother, don't you?"

Feliciano pouted. Ludwig never let him do anything fun.

* * *

Grabbing a bandage from the First Aid kit, Matthew unravelled it , trying to find a way to wound it around the injured head without much trouble.

If only the subject with the injured head could be the same.

" Hold still!" said Matthew as he started wrapping the white bandage on his head. " If you keep moving like that, I won't get the bandage to wrap nicely, and you'd be more uncomfortable!"

Gilbert , who was feeling less of the pounding in his head and more uncomfortable over the pretty blonde fawning over him, was trying his best not to hold still. ' Look, I'm fine! I don't need to be petted and fussed over like some cat! I'm supposed to be awesome! And I've been through this before! Eliza with her pan does this to me every week! I'm more or less used to it!You added the cream already, there's no need for more!"

" I know that, but we're in the wild! You could get an infection that way!" protested Matthew, trying to steady the bandage . " It was a good thing that you were carrying the first aid kit when you did! I honestly thought you were going to die!"

" Well, you thought wrong!"Gilbert replied, scowling as he felt gentle hands wind around his head." Shaking his head to get rid of the motion , Gilbert tried to struggle out of the position, but to no avail as his eyes met Matthew's . The blue-violet eyes held such a fire in them that Gilbert could do nothing but hold still and behave. Matthew sighed in relief and started to wrap the bandage around his head.

" For someone nicknamed Milady, you sure have an insane look when you need to." Gilbert grumbled , but silently closing his eyes enjoying the feeling of being fussed over , especially by pretty blondes. Pretty blondes who smell like maple syrup and some sort of fruit , with a bit of yoghurt dashed into it and had gentle fingers which should be curling around his shirt instead of his head like that...

" Well, considering that you call me that, I guess that means I'm a bitch around you then." The snark retort was heard as Gilbert snapped out of his daydream of being fed grapes by an enchanting blonde with purple blue eyes .His own opened to the same blonde with purple blue eyes who was frowning with concentration as he attached the end of the bandage to the clip, which he then clipped over the other bandages. " Done!"

Gilbert dragged his hand up to his head to feel the bandage head. " Not bad, milady.I could almost swear you have a lady's touch."

" Sure, I do." Matthew deadpanned as he went to get more cloth for the foot.

" In any case, where's my awesome rocket bird?" asked Gilbert as he looked around for the familiar yellow fluffy ball of a bird. Usually, when he had a head injury, the bird would tend to avoid his head for the next few days, knowing he was very sore around the area. In such cases, however, he often forgot where the bird was, and when the bird sat on his head again, he often thought that it was another bird he was hosting and would try to give it another name . After a while he'd realise that it was just the same old Gilbird and not an army of little birds on his head. But because it was better to not try and think of new names, he much preferred it if the bird was somewhere he could see.

Matthew tilted his head slightly so that Gilbert could see. Hidden under Matthew's golden locks was a yellow fluffy ball, which cheeped happily upon seeing the pale man. Gilbert grinned. Somehow, he enjoyed seeing the bird ride on the other guy's shoulder... he seemed to belong there.

* * *

" Doitsu! I don't wanna go and stay at the campsite! Come on, please? I'm too young to stay at home and wait! And my relatives are missing! I can't just not find them!" pleaded a whining Feliciano , as he held on to Ludwig's arm , trying to convince him to let him go on the search expedition.

" Feliciano, for the last time, I cannot allow you to do that." Replied the German as he dragged the brunette towards the direction of Team 3's campsite." As it is, you cause enough trouble to people, and for that matter, it's dangerous out there!"

The Italian pouted." So what?" he protested. "It's not gonna be dangerous! I'll have you there! And you'll protect me, Doitsu!"

Ludwig scowled, something that he never usually did in front of the Italian boy . Well not anymore, that was. " Feliciano. Once again, if you don't listen to me, I would not be able to let do anything else in the future."

" That's no fair! Doii-sssttu!!!"

Ludwig ignored his pleas, though his heart and will were weakening from the tone of voice the brunette used. Still, his rational brain told him it was for the best, and Ludwig always listened to what his brain usually said.

Well, recently his will had been receding a bit to accommodate his heart making its case more than usual, but he still listened to his brain!

"Feliciano. You are staying at the campsite and that is final." A stern Ludwig dragging the brunette down the path. This continued until they reached a sandy area.

Feliciano gave a gasp. " Doitsu! It's sand...I know what this means! Sandy area....the smell of salty and vinegary sorta thing like that....the wind....." He started bouncing up and down." The sea!!!It's the seas! The great azure goddess that surrounds the island! Doitsu! There's a beach here!" The grin on his face rivalled that of the sun and Ludwig wondered just how it was possible for that Italian boy to look like the centre of the universe so much.

Uhhuh, and not the centre of your universe, Westen? said his annoying inner Gilbert.

He retreated inside his brain and started arguing with the voice." Was theer any need to do that, bruder?" he shouted .

Inner Gilbert smirked. " Uhhuh, and you didn't enjoy it, Westen?"

Ludwig blushed, hoping that the Italian would not notice it, and continued mentally arguing with his brother in his head. " I have no idea what you are talking about! And for that matter, where the hell are you? I'm worried sick!"

" Oh , and the fact that you and Feliciano are not out there , searching for any trace of my awesomeness is because of the fact that you want to make sure that Feli-chan stays safe. What does that say about you, Ludwig?"

" That's cause I know that you can take care of yourself fine! You're the one that helped to train me after all, bruder! " Ludwig shot back. Dear god, was he actually trading shots at his imaginary brother? While the real one was out there missing? What on earth was he thinking? It was like that dream he had a few weeks ago when he saw Principal Vargas !

Speaking of Vargas...wasn't it unusually quiet around him?

He quickly turned around , hoping that the lithe brunette did not pull a Gilbert on him and had run off into the sunset...when he noticed a pair of shoes, followed by socks, shorts and a shirt lying haphazardly on the ground. Dear god....he didn't....

His answer was standing a few meters away, now digging his fingers into his underpants so that he could push them off and throw them aside as well.

" _Wh-!_!! " Ludwig roared, mostly in disbelief, but more or less in embarrassment that the brunette was _stripping_ in front of him. In a public , open area.

"Ve~, Doitsu! It's so warm out, and the beach is so near! We're here at the beach! And as befitting a proper Italian, we should let our whole bodies feel and embrace the warmth and texture of this wonderful, wonderful gift that the Lord has given us!" yelled out the Italian, happily tossing his red underpants to the side. " Join me , Doitsu! Feel the sun on your skin!" With that, the buck naked Italian boy ran forth , leaping a few times in the air and stretching his arms wide as though he was embracing his destiny.

Ludwig had to fidget in a bit to hide his blush . " You're not in Europe anymore, Feliciano! This is Asian Territory! We'll get arrested here if you strip naked!"

Feliciano had ignored it and was still running. " It's okay, Doitsu! I know it's fine. Cause we're alone! I'm alone! I'm free and alone and I like it! It's as unexplainable as strawberry milk is! But it's a wonderful, wonderful thing to be free and alone! "He leapt a few times in the air, seeming happily embracing his freedom. The curl on his hair bounced along in happiness as well.

Ludwig tried to avert his eyes so that he would not have to see the other thing that was bouncing around as well. Despite the fact that he liked Feliciano, he was not entirely ready to see that side of his friend. " At least stop jumping around so much! If the one in charge has to raise it to an M, she might lose control and might start writing something she;s not ready for yet!"

However, the lithe voice replied." The point is, she's not here yet! So we're alone! Free of society's obligations! Free of expectations! Free of life's chores! We're free!" He then took a flying leap forward, " WE'RE FREE AND ALL-"

"ALONE!"

Feliciano turned to see his brother as well, who , like him was taking a flying leap while naked. Ludwig , who watched the entire procession, had to admit that the mid-leap pose both brothers were doing were perfectly synchronized, much like a dance. The shock on both brothers' faces were identical as well. It was much like peering into a mirror.

Both brothers landed, and started putting on their clothes, synchronised to the final T.

* * *

"Okay, so the problem now is figuring out where the hell we are." Said Matthew, who was right now digging through Gilbert's backpack for something. " Gilbert, where did you keep the map of yours?"

Gilbert, whose head still felt heavy, had it resting on the side of the tree trunk." The map? Well, obviously, as the teacher in charge, I would have it, but because I'm as awesome as I am, I gave it to Ludwig to practice map –reading."

Matthew froze , " You mean you had no idea where I was?"

Gilbert smirked despite himself, " Hey, when you're as awesome as I am, you don't need a map to find out where a cute kid is around! You trust your instincts!"

Matthew had no idea whether to laugh or cry.

* * *

"_Che schifo_, potato bastard!" shouted Lovino as he stomped , dragging a squirming Feliciano with him." I knew that you had designs on my brother, but I never knew that you'd be such a _figlio di puttana _that you'll get my brother to throw his clothes off for you!"

Ludwig, who was used to this sort of anger from Lovino, merely replied , " I'm sorry." He was used to the fact that Lovino hated him, and that no matter how he defended himself in the arguments, he was not going to be able to win in any case. So all he did was say ," sorry" or ignore him totally.

Unfortunately, doing such would result in a response much like how your mother would reply if she and you had the same argument.

"_Ficcatelo nel culo _your sorry!"

Well, not entirely like what your mother would reply.

" To make it worse, you've also seen me without my clothes on! _Miserabili pezzi di merda_! You must have planned this, you _porca puttana_!You're a freaking pervert like the French kid! _Maledetto! Che il diavolo ti porti! Stammi lontano_!"Lovino said, dragging his brother , who seemed to be whimpering and crying.

" Fratello!I'm sorry too! Don't say that about Doitsu! He's a nice guy! He helps me tie my shoelaces!" whined Feliciano .

" Oh and that's how you decide on your friends? He helps you with your shoelaces and you show off your privates!" muttered Lovino, scowling. " If you don't have me around, I swear you'd be giving it away to any guy with blonde hair and blue eyes! You just had to go with the airheads, Feliciano! It was like this when we were kids, it still is now!"

Ludwig winced. Now that had to be harsh. ' Oy, I have no-"

' Ve~! A giant tomato!" shouted Feliciano. The other two stopped and stared at the direction where Feliciano was pointing.

And indeed there was a twenty feet sand structure in the shape of a tomato. Which seemed to have been made by the tall, grinning brunette happily piling on more sand on it. Who seemed to be singing out of tune.

" _Tight Jeans, double Ds making me go , " Whoohoo", all the people on the street know " Whoohoo, Whoohoo_!"" sang Antonio, who was actually shouting " Whoohoo instead of whistling , and dancing to the tune he was making. _" Iced out , lit up, make the kids go , " Whoohoo!",All the people on the street know, " Whoohoo, Whoohoo_!"

A wave splashed onto his statue, making some of the sand spill over. The Spanish teacher was in a shock, screaming, " My tomato! I'll save you!" quickly running forth to save his statue from the next splash by running in slow motion and jumping in front of the wave, splashing him instead of the statue.

His audience, all who were in shock over the singing and dancing, were even more stunned over the strange way the teacher was protecting his statue. Antonio seemed to sense the anger in the atmosphere and turned around, spotting the three stunned audience members and happily yelling, " Lovi! I missed you! I'm not alone anymore!"

"Ma cosa!?What the freaking fuck was that?! Was there a need to do that?! And you and my brother are exactly the same! Stop doing all sort of weird things when I'm not around! Damnit!" shouted Lovi, his face puffing up in anger and turning into a dark shade of red.

The Spainish man then noticed the other two boys. " FELICI! You're here too!! You're still so adorable! I missed you! " he said, hugging both twin brothers. Feliciano was hugging back, while Lovi was struggling out of the tight hold that both of them had on him. Ludwig just stood there, wondering just how was it that most of the people around him were so weird.

* * *

Matthew was getting slightly antsy .

Well, you would be if you found out that your teammate can't walk and you both were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no map.

" Isn't there any way we can get by to tell anyone of our whereabouts?" asked Matthew, getting really scared at their circumstances. Gilbert himself was getting worried, though he being older and more awesome had made it imperative for him to hide those feelings.

" Ahahaha! Since it's us, we'll have no need for such pansy assed telling!" said Gilbert, getting up on his feet. His eyes widened , and a hiss of a noise seemed to emit from his lips before he grabbed on to the tree next to him. " Let's get a move on! " He forced himself to say in his usual tone of voice

Matthew stood up as well, only to force the German down . " You can't move! You're ankle is clarly swelling and you rampaging around the forest with no idea on where you are going would only make your ankle worse!"

Gilbert scowled as he made a move to stand up again ." Tch!As if! I am the great Gilbert! Conqueror of Vital Re-" His eyes widened again and a frission on pain emitted from his left ankle, even worse than it was before. He nevertheless ignored the pain again and tried to walk to steps before collapsing .

Matthew gasped and ran forth , hoping against all hope that he had not injured himself again. The pale man's face had blanched further into an almost frightening bone white , possibly from the pressure he was trying to resist. Turning to meet his eyes, Gilbert said, in an attempt to joke. " Woah. Okay,my awesome legs have spoken! It's time for a rest!"

" You're more of an idiot than I thought, Gilbert."

* * *

"I hate all three of you! Damn you all to hell!" shouted Lovino, dragging both Feliciano and Antonio with both hands across the sandy beach, while Ludwig followed dejectedly behind.

" I'm sorry!" yelled Antonio , looking very sorry indeed. " I'm really really sorry!

" As if one of you idiots is not enough! You had to go and put me in the presence of three of them! Damn you, God! Damn you!And that song is a pervert song! You're such a damn pervert, Antonio!"

Feliciano and Antonio, who were both strict Catholics , all whined in protest over Lovino's blasphemy, while Ludwig just seemed more resigned and nursing a giant headache. The waves crashed into the sandy banks, in an attempt to soothe his mind.

" Just how long do we reach the campsite, anyway?" asked Ludwig, who really wanted to leave Feliciano with the others already but Feliciano had insisted on him placing his belongings down at the campsite first. He was beginning to feel irritated and frustrated over the time wasted when could have been out there searching for his older brother.

"Ah, not far off, don't worry. We left Yong Soo and Vash to look after the campsite while we were doing our ....erm...activities...." said Antonio as he was dragged forward, leave deep marks into the smooth sand.

Lovino snorted. " What damn activity? Who the hell decides that making a sandcastle in the shape of a tomato was an activity? What kinda country did they bring you up in anyway!"

Feliciano whimpered, " Fratello, you liked to make tomato sandcastles too when we were young....."

" Shut up!" a flustered Lovino yelled, turning red and his face puffing up. " It's things like these that make me hate you all! Especially my brother with no brains, that damn spanish teacher who makes tomato sandcastles and most of all, that potato bastard pervert that likes to see my brother naked!"

Ludwig bristled at the comment, ' How many times do I have to tell you that-"

A sharp yodel interrupted the comment and all four members of the group sounded much like a high pitched yelp of a puppy which had seen a bagel with bacon and had dashed towards it, only to have tripped over it instead and fallen on his knees. The sound came again and the four members turned their heads , trying to locate the sound.

There, standing on top of a large piece of driftwood, was Vash,one hand against his mouth, who seemed to be making the sound.

" Eh, actually, that doesn't sound right. " Vash mused, placing a hand on his hips and pursing his lips. " The sound seems a bit too high pitched...maybe I should try it lower." He made the yodelling sound again, this time lower and resembling of the puppy's mother who had seen the puppy trip and fall and had tried to run towards it, only to trip and fall over the bagel as well.

Vash paused . " That didn't sound right either. Seriously, was Yong Soo joking when he said that yodelling could bring the whales forth?" A red tinge appeared on his cheeks. " But then, Lily has always wanted to see the whales in the beach...I shall do it once again then!"

He opened his lips again, but his eye turned left and caught the sight of the four people staring at him. All four of them just stared at him while he stared back. This continued for a few more minutes.

* * *

The pacing Matthew did was one which Gilbert thought reminded him of Ludwig's own when he was worried. Not that Matthew resembled Ludwig in any way. On the contrary, despite the similar colouring ( though Matthew had blue violet eyes and his hair was a darker , more honey like shade of blonde ),Gilbert knew that he would never mistake Matthew for any one else.

How was it that people could mistake the poor boy for his brother?

" So what are we going to do now?" Matthew said, his voice filled with frustration, despair and relative sadness." I mean, it would have been great if we had a radio device or something to send to the others..."

A lightbulb went off in Gilbert's mind. Well in his case, it was more of a fluorescent light bar, cause lightbulbs are rather old fashioned. " Wait! We do !"

Matthew tilted his head to give a questioning look.

Gilbert grinned as he reached for his backpack. " Well, the principal made us take one of these devices so that they could track each team from base camp and communicate with each other . There're really small tags that the computer and mechanics club have been developing for an outside patent." He paused as he thought, his hands stopping their search inside his pack. " I think it was that Swedish kid who was making it....Strange kid too, only talks to that Finnish kid with the purple eyes and that bright looking kid who does those card tricks...."

Matthew cut him off before Gilbert could start reciting every student in the level." So you have it, eh?"

" Kesese! Of course I do!" Gilbert resumed his search into his pack. " It's a really small thing though, and very advanced. Apparently, its like a walktalkie and you can communicate with the base camp so that they can know our whereabouts. Damn the principal for insisting that we leave our handphones at home, but he made sense, there's nowhere we can charge them when they run low on batt. The problem with it is that its rather small and since its a prototype , its rather ...."His eyes widened as something registered. He pulled out the shattered remains of plastic and metal chips in his hand. " Breakable."

Matthew groaned.

* * *

This time, it was Vash's turn to be angry.

" Was there any need for you all to be standing there?!" he yelled, brandishing a small pistol while moving the group forward, much like a shepherd guiding his sheep. Well, if the shepherd brandished the gun and was yelling at the 4 sheep with him.

" We're sorry. " went all four sheep unanimously, all looking ashamed and rather red faced.

" Sorry doesn't cut it! Where's your proper etiquette ? When you see someone about to do something embarrassing, do something about it!" Vash went on angrily, while trying his best to remove the blush on his face from being seen doing something stupid.

Ludwig sighed again. Why were the people around him weird?

Vash turned to look at the two new members of the group and softened slightly. " Team 2 members, why are you here?" He said gruffly, lowering his pistol momentarily.

Ludwig blinked. " Did you not read Task 3 yet? The letter told us to find your team."

Antonio replied, " Oh, we haven't read the envelope yet. We were going to but then we decided to take a break from each other, cause Yong Soo was driving Vash crazy and Lovino didn't want me near him. You know, the whole , " Absence makes the mind grow fonder " strategy. "

_And in this case, if you guys were not here, you would make me be fond of you guys more, I swear. _Thought Ludwig.

" But where's Gilbert?" Antonio's carefree gaze fell and looked around their group. " It is not characteristic of him to be away from the team. "He started frowning." And where is that young Alfred ?"

Ludwig had opened his mouth to explain the circumstances of their visit when sudden an unknown voice broke out.

" _Nice legs , daisy dukes, makes a man go, " Whoohoo!" That's the way they all come through, like, " Whoohoo, Whoohoo!" Whole cut, see-through , makes a man go, " Whoohoo!" All the people on the streets go," Whoohoo, Whoohoo!"_" shouted Yong Soo, happily dancing around his lettering on the sand, which revealed itself to be 20 feet letters writing, " MADE IN KOREA".

He stooped his dancing and said, " It's time to say hello to the whales!" Quickly jumping up and down, he gave a loud yodel, loud enough for a seagull to screech a reply. " Hi, Mr Seagull!"He shouted, jumping up and down in excitement and waving his hands.

Almost as a reaction to his yodelling, the waves started to crash, almost erasing his " MADE IN KOREA" sign. Yong Soo gave a shriek and yelled, " MY SIGN! I'll save you!" , running forth and jumping in front of the sign so that the wave splashed him instead of the sign.

Everybody in the audience couldn't do anything but just stare at the weird Korean Boy in front of them. Ludwig gave a groan inwardly. Only he would face such things in his life, huh?

* * *

" So let's recap. I got lost, and you found me, only to trip over my polar bear."

'Yes."

" You're suffering a head injury and I have no idea how severe it is, you're ankle is swelling and you can't walk."

" Technically kid, I suggested that we rest here, cause my awesome self tells me to."

"We don't have a map, you have no idea where we are, and now the only device that could have saved us is broken due to the fall."

" That's pretty much it."

" Why me, lord? Why?"

**Argh-thor's Note: I have a list of things Lovi would say. It's in a list.**

**Okay let's start with what he shouted.**

**Che schifo- How disgusting!**

**Figlio di puttana - Son of a bitch**

**Ficcatelo nel culo "you're sorry" - You can shove "you're sorry" up your ass.**

**Miserabili pezzi di merda- stinking piece of shit.**

**Porca puttana- another term for son of a bitch.**

**Maledetto! Che il diavolo ti porti! Stammi lontano! -Damn it! Damn you to hell! Get the hell away from me!**

**Ah, we see Gilbert's otaku dreams! He's always envied guys in the anime or manga who had a cool weapon and the best lines. Ever since playing Devil May Cry and watching the anime and manga, he's always fantasized being the third Sparda brother, but of course, a cooler version. And he doesn't care if he's a girl, cause Feliciano did a gender bender phase back last year and drew everyone he knew as the opposite sex. Gilbert has the picture framed up in his room as proof that even as a girl, he was still awesomely sexy.**

**Seems like Team Tomato's theme song is " Starstrukk " by 3oh!3. Antonio and Yong Soo sing it during campfires when Yong Soo doesn't dance to " Nobody" by the Wondergirls. The scene is a parody of Gintama's episode 115 where everyone is stranded on the beach.**

**Vash loves his younger sister a lot and would do anything for her. Even believe Yong Soo's story about how to call up whales. And we see more of the author's love for yodelling.**

**How do you guys like this chapter? Like it? Review if you do . Review if you don't too. And thanks for sticking around for so long!**


	9. It's Times Like These

**Chapter :** ** It's Times Like These When You Have To Thank Your Parents.**

**Argh-thor's note: I'M SO SORRY!! I'M BACK! HOUSE CLEANING IS AWFUL! UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS ARE HELL! I'm appling for a psych course in one university, and aEng Lit course in another. I hope I get them.**

**I'll be more punctual, but I can only safely gurantee that on the second week of April, which is when my mom goes back to Hong Kong and I can finally breathe properly on my computer without her jumping and asking me for help with moving a table.**

**I took a job for a bit looking after kids in a tuition centre. It has undoubtedly opened my eyes to teaching. I don't want to do that for young kids. This chapter is dedicated to poor child care givers like your mom and dad.**

* * *

Things weren't looking well for Matthew and Gilbert at the moment.

" You're telling me" muttered Matthew's inner voice, having finally recovered itself from the banks of that moat . However, he was refusing to talk to Matthew's brain .

In the meantime, the real Matthew was leaning his head against the tree trunk, feeling a headache approach his brain.

He had never really been in this sort of dilemma before. Well, not if you count the time he and Alfred were on a Greyhound bus to their grandpa's house once and Alfred had to pee , but there were no restrooms on the bus. In the end, they had to substitute by Alfred finding some sort of container....the rest just shouldn't be explained in this fic.

In any case. This problem wasn't as bad as that. Or as disgusting.

It was worse.

Gilbert couldn't walk, their communicator was busted, and they were stranded in the middle of nowhere.

To be frank, that would actually be an okay scenario. I mean, it was not as though there was a axe wielding murderer out there. This was Pulau Ubin, in Singapore. Not the middle of an alleyway in the middle of the night in America . Seriously.

However, there was something that Matthew did not consider.

Gilbert was becoming insane and delirious.

As readers who had read the author's earlier work would know, Gilbert was a frequent receiver of hard knocks on the head, courtesy of his best friend Elizaveta and her Teflon non-stick frying pan ( available only in your respective home shopping areas.) However, what was subtly implied but never mentioned was the fact that Gilbert usually went slightly insane in the aftermath. In many cases, he had come up with weird ideas under the influence of a pan to the head. This ranged from the famous " Cookie Pity" ( which can be read when you click on the author's profile. Yes, she does have adverts for the story. Deal with it. Commercialism is EVERYWHERE.), to less famous ideas such as running for Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Mayonnaise, or founding a cult that worshipped the anime character of Prussia in his favourite anime. In any case, Gilbert would not be able to hold on to his usual sensibilities. Well, what could be counted as sensible in his book, that was.

To top it off, the extreme heat and humidity of the weather had made him giddy. This could be due to Gilbert's extreme paleness and his lack of inability to cope with the weather.

Thus, with the knock on his head, the loss of blood and the humid hot weather getting to him, Gilbert was slowly losing his senses and going insane.

" Hey, hey Matthew, Hey, Matthew! Hey! Hey, Matthew! Hey, hey!"

Yes. Matthew was the only one.

Matthew had never dealt with a situation like this before and he was at a loss at what to do. To be frank, he was willing to do anything to help Gilbert in this situation. He was, after all, a rather sweet kid.

Unfortunately, Gilbert was not helping and was trying Matthew's patience.

You got to pity him in this state. Even I wouldn't want to be in it.

Matthew turned back to the insanely happy man , who was happily trying to get his attention by waving his hands . " What?'

Gilbert happily asked, " Orange you glad I didn't say Matthew again?" For some reason the joke seemed hilarious to Gilbert, and he started laughing hysterically. Matthew had to stop himself from facepalming , trying to remind himself that the man was most probably out of it due to his recent hit on the head. Besides, it was better than Gilbert trying to show Matthew that he could touch his nose with his tongue. That was what he was doing a few minutes ago before he got bored.

_It was only a temporary thing ._ He reminded himself. _He'll be back to his usual self soon. His usual idiotic, arrogant , insanely egoistic...._now he didn't know which personality was worse.

Although, despite his temporary insanity, Matthew had to admit Gilbert was in his element .His eyes were actually glowing with happiness. He seemed more...innocent...was that the word? It was almost like watching a child sitting there.

He tried to imagine what Gilbert was like as a child...a smaller, chubby six year old cuddling a stuffed yellow chick, his eyes lighting up at the sight of pancakes and syrup...his mouth open, almost as though he wanted to laugh....

" _Hey, hey Daddy! Hey! Daddy! Hey, hey , hey, hey, daddy! I'm so cool! Look at me! I'm balancing off this bookcase! Daddy! Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Well, can you? Can you? You haven't even tried it yet! "_

Well, that was no different than now! It was almost as though Gilbert had been a six year old all his life! That wasn't fair! He didn't know any other people that acted like that...wait...scratch the earlier statement, Alfred went through that phase when he was five. It continued until Alfred's father threatened to stuff an orange into Alfred's mouth and Alfred retaliated by placing an orange slice in his mouth and pretending that there was an actual orange in his mouth. After awhile, with their father overreacting and actually trying to send the kid to the hospital, Alfred revealed the joke, and there was a whole load of laughing later. Only Alfred could get away with such pranks.

Matthew meanwhile, was more content to read and play with his mom's dog, a giant husky called Huckleberry. While Alfred got away with jokes, Matthew did the reading and learning. Many cold nights in Canada had seen Matthew curled up with his mom's cookies in one hand, a book in the other, and the fuzzy fur of Huckleberry on his back as he read. While Huckleberry never really knew who that blonde boy was that his owner seemed so proud of, he was always there when Matthew needed him. (That was years before he met Kumihiro, and had him and Huckleberry to cuddle during the nights.)

In any case, it was really obvious that Alfred and Matthew were different. And it was starting to seem as though Gilbert had a lot in common with his twin than he did.

Suddenly, Matthew's face paled. Was it...it can't be....was it possible that Matthew was attracted to Gilbert because of his actions resembling Alfred's own? Oh god! That made so much sense! It was a brother complex! He liked Gilbert because he resembled his twin! Did that count as incest? Argh! Did that mean he had incestuous feelings for ALFRED? NO! He did not love his brother that way, fangirls be damned!

" Hey , Matthew!" Before Matthew could react through his mind fuck, a hand was suddenly on Matthew's shoulder. The blonde squeaked and tried to move, but he was slow. Gilbert's face was suddenly near his. So very near.... he could feel his breath on his cheek.

" I've got a very good idea , since we're all so bored." He whispered, the air tickling Matthew's cheek. Matthew's eyes widened, anticipating the worst. Oh no...he wasn't going to do anything stupid, was he?

Gilbert's face got closer, past his left cheek and whispered something.

Matthew's blue –purple eyes went wide.

The other one's own gleamed in mischief.

* * *

" I'm a Military man's son. I've been on the road many times, have seen many sights. I've handled a bull fight. You've ever ran a bull fight before? I thought not. Let me tell you something. I've seen so many things in my life...."

Ludwig had heard this speech before. Somehow , it was similar to his grandfather's speech when he was training cadets. Ludwig had hid behind a wall when he saw his grandfather berate, yell, punish and train the young men while they ran, did jumps and pushups. At that age, anyone would had been intimidated.

Not Ludwig. He loved the idea . He had always wanted to be a soldier. Wasn't it in the German Motto? "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit?" With that kind of standard, wouldn't that be fulfilling if he became a soldier for the country?

In any case, he had witnessed this scene and heard this speech many many times...All the men standing at attention, all looking tired and sad and more or less frightened at the commander giving the orders.

Only in this case....

" All of you were disappointing today....including you! The teacher! Team 2 members as well! You're new, but I expected better of you!"

The commanding officer was a blonde with a page boy hair cut and green eyes, younger than the supposed person in charge, and was angrily shouting at all the men in the troops, namely two Italians, one Korean, a German and a Spanish Teacher. All frightened out of their wits with a crazy leader.

Well, most of them. Ludwig was used to the commands. He had , after all , lived with his Grandfather.

" Because of your teammate's disgraceful performance, all of you guys have to do 20 pushups! 20 diamond pushups!" There was a collective groan, snapped shut by the sharp voice of Vash. " Did I make a sound, company? Did I tell you to make a sound? 30 !"

All of them immediately got into the pushup position, ready to do it at the count of the person taking time. Vash looked at Ludwig in the eye, then turned his head and shouted. " Since Team 2 members are here, I'll make Ludwig do the timing. You hear me , company?"

The resounding yes was loud enough. Ludwig could see Feliciano and Lovino trembling from the weight. Their arms were not used to such a long period in the pushup position. The Korean boy, Yong Soo seemed fine enough. Well, he should be . He was in the school's track team , after all.

For that matter, how was it possible that both Italian boys played football, yet never seemed to be good in any other talent?

He ignored that thought and started the timing," Down!"

" One!" Everybody's upper torso bent down at the count of one, then rose up again.

"Down!"

" Two!"

The Diamond pushup, in case you readers don't know, is when the person does a normal pushup, only the position of the hands are positioned in such a way that the thumbs and index fingers of both hands are in the formation of a diamond. This requires more arm strength and thus 20 of the would be a killer.

" I can't hear you all during commands? Are you guys in Catholic Girls' School?Come on! Put some back in it!"

" Down!"

"Three!"

" Down!"

" Four!"

In most cases, Ludwig had indeed, " put some back" into his commands. However it was apparent his " back" was not enough to cover up for the other two Italian boys, who seemed to be fainting from the exertion of pressure on their arms and yelling at the same time. Antonio seemed to be doing okay judging by the smile. But then again, Ludwig knew for a fact that Antonio always smiled even when dealing with rule breakers in his class.

" Down!"

" Five!"

" Down! "

" Six!"

He was worried for Gilbert. While he had been separated from his brother before, his brother , however , would have by now returned or left a note to at least tell him where he was. There were only ones left in the family, after all. Despite Gilbert's tendencies to lapse into narcissistic praise and worshipping, Ludwig could still count on him in any crisis and could trust him to act better than any parent in any situations. Not having him around was rather sobering for Ludwig, and it reminded him of how he could get along with very few people. Thus, he had to get his brother back, and soon.

" Down!"

" Seven!"

" Down !"

" Eight!"

And he was , of course, going to make sure that he would do this alone. Usually, when doing things, he relied on one person , his brother and him alone. Despite his natural , quiet confidence, he often relied on his brother, and he knew his brother did the same. And it was his fault, after all, letting Matthew and Gilbert run off like that. He was going to right things by searching for them , alone. And he knew that no one else could help him in the situation. It was the right thing to do.

" Down!"

" Nine!"

" Down!"

"TEN!"

He really had to get out of doing pushups. It was rather tiring , after all.

* * *

" Come on! Go faster, milady!!"

" I'm trying...oof ...you're heavy!"

"You're not doing it right..._ah_.... grab your hands under my legs....."

" What, like ..._ngh_! This?"

" Yeah...that's why...now don't let go now...and go faster, milady! Stop making the awesome do all the work!"

" You...argh...doing ...all...the ....work.....damn....stop....bouncing ....so much...."

" I can't help it...you're not going fast enough.....argh! Dun drop me....Don't let go of me......argh!!!"

" I can't ...hold on...much...longer....."

" You have to! I can't stay on for long either....argh!! Don't let go...don't let go!!!"

A Thump! was heard and Gilbert, who sat up on his sore bum, sat up and glared at the boy above him.

" Why did you let go of me for?" He accused the blonde, his face slick with sweat.

Matthew gritted his teeth." Gilbert....I was piggybacking you, and my own bag! You're lucky Kotochan was carrying your bird, or else I would have fallen a long time ago!"

Gilbert scowled, rubbing the bottom which he had landed on. " And you're too slow! You're almost like those donkeys which you take a ride on in the park!"

Matthew scowled back. " For your information , an awesome guy like you is too heavy a burden for me. And I had to drag your pack over as well! See, that's the reason why we've only advanced 100 meters in 2 hours!" He scolded, as he tried to adjust his shoulders, getting rid of the aches he felt from carrying Gilbert and his own exertion from yesterday's battle. For a healthy, strong guy like Gilbert, he sure was heavy.

Although he thought he could feel muscles on Gilbert's stomach when he carried him. Damn , he could still feel them. Why didn't he get those type of muscles? Why did it fit Gilbert more than he did?

_Maybe it's because you like them more on him than you do on yourself. _A sly inner voice intoned.

Matthew's other, true inner voice ( You guys should remember him, he's the guy that sounds like Arthur and got thrown into the moat by Matthew's brain. We'll just refer to him as his Artie from now on) bristled. _Excuse me, were you talking? Stop trying to influence poor young, innocent Matthew and get back to doing something sensible! _

_Oh, and you yourself are really helping with your holier than thou persona? I saw you ogling at that picture of Gilbert you have in your locker. Don't lie to me, we have lockers next to each other._

_Why you bloody scumbag of the earth! Take that back! I dare you! I don't even have a locker! What the hell are you talking about?!_

_Oh no! Artie is angry! Run, little children! Run!_

Inwardly, Matthew watched as his brain voice ( which highly resembled his older brother's, thus his name would be known as Alfie.) was being chased by Artie. It was funny how much it resembled Tom and Jerry in those old morning cartoons. Artie was even wielding a large hammer. It was rather funny, but rather scary too at the same time. Was he actually seeing things in his mind? It was no wonder he felt as though he was the insane one, and not Gilbert, who was currently lying on his back , singing a song about potatoes.

_Damn you, sordid man who lives in the same body as me!_ Artie yelled as he tried to smash Alfie to bits.

Gilbert inwardly smirked when he realised the blonde was going into one of his internal debates with himself mode again. It was rather weird when he did that, but sorta cute too, the way he chewed on his lip when thinking, the way his eyes flared when he braced an imaginary retort , the way his eyebrows were raised as he prepared a mental comeback....was it just him or was he admiring the way an insane person was dealing with his inner voices? Whoah. He really was out of it. Hee hee. Whee.

* * *

Vash looked down on his team and gruffly said, " Take a break , men. Company dismissed."

Nobody really moved from their spot. Rather, most of them just collapsed on the ground, the two Italian brothers included, who had landed face down, seemingly passed out from the exercise they had to do. Yong Soo was sitting up, but then again, the energetic Korean Boy had boundless energy. It was known that Yong Soo, due to no other reason other than boredom, had signed up for the cheerleading team in their school, only to become the head cheerleader and the most fanatic of them all when it came to School Spirit. In fact, a running joke in the cheerleading circles that in terms of School Spirit, it had originated from the Korean boy, who loved making up tales of items and their origins.

Ludwig , however, immediately jumped up, brushed his hands against each other and walked briskly towards Antonio , who was supposed to be the one in charge. If he didn't find his brother, it was high time he used the opportunity to find him. But first, he had to tell Antonio. The older man was , after all, a responsible adult despite his tendency to let angrier and more persistent Swiss boys take charge. And he was Gilbert's drinking buddy and best friend. Ludwig knew he could trust him.

" I need a word, Mr Carriedo."

Before the brunette teacher could reply, the head of one of the twins lifted up, revealing eyes with a glitter of some sort of anger. It was Lovino, of course.

" Excuse me, Pervertic Foligio puttana, did I allow you any talking to Antonio or Feliciano?" said the irate Italian boy as somehow he jumped up and ran, placing himself in between Antonio and Ludwig, his arms akimbo .

Ludwig felt all the worry he had for his brother and Matthew disappear, to be replaced by the exasperation and irritation he had for the older Italian twin. " This has nothing to do with you, Lovino."

Lovino scoffed. " Oh, so basically the whole " Rape the Italian boys" had "nothing" to do with me as well, huh?" He crossed his arms, in an attempt to make himself look fierce despite the fact that he only came up to the German boy's chest .

Ludwig gritted his teeth ." Look, I am not here to argue with you, Lovino..."

" Oh, and I am?"

He ignored him. " But I need to speak to Mr Carriedo. This is important. Gilbert's missing...."

Lovino cut in ."Yes, another Potato gone! God is on my side!"

" And Matthew is with him too..."

The older Spanish Teacher broke in, his expression serious, " Wait, Gilbert and New Alfred are missing?"His voice held a layer of sternness and even Lovino had broke out of his position to look at him.

Ludwig nodded silently.

Antonio sucked in his breath, then released it. " How long?"

" 2, 3 hours."

Antonio stood up , his green eyes glittering. " Then I will join you on your search."

Ludwig placed a hand on his chest, his blue eyes flashing. " That will not be necessary. The only reason why I came to you was so that I can alert you on the situation. I will be leaving Feliciano with you-"

A scuffle suddenly broke out . " Against his will! Feliciano was being left against his will!" yelled said person being left against his will.

" Enough, Feliciano." To Antonio, he continued, " And , I will be conducting the search alone."

Antonio looked at Ludwig straight in the eye and said, " You sure about this, Ludwig? " There was doubt in his voice, and that doubt irked Ludwig, a little. He knew the older man meant well, but this doubt against him was a bit irritating.

"I'm sure." He replied. " I need you to stay and look after Feliciano. I can trust him with you, cause you raised him and his brother. You have been a matador for awhile before..."

"Why does everybody say that?"

" And you have to watch the other two kids as well. I'll be back soon.I promised." And in a slight whisper , he continued, " Look after Feliciano for me. I don't want him getting hurt."

Antonio's eyes widened, but he composed himself slightly and nodded in hesitant agreement.

* * *

Gilbert had never had so much fun than he was having at the moment.

It was as though somebody had taken his already bright , awesome world and had added lots of sprinkles, rainbows and brighter lights. The colours around him seemed to merge and run into each other, much like the colourful lights do in a nightclub . It was rather fascinating, if not for the fact that subconsciously, his mind was murmuring quietly that there was something wrong with the way he was rather receptive towards the way the world looked like to him now.

Then again, his brain was the wuss Roderich. It should well be ignored. Bwahahaha . He loved laughing. Laughing was , fun , funity fun.

"Matthew! I'm having fun!" he shouted, happily waving his arms.

Matthew looked up to see Gilbert, who despite his leg injury and lack of motivational skills, had managed to somehow get up on the tree branch and perch himself there. There he sat, almost bouncing with excitement, resembling a cat which had caught the canary. Or even the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Though Matthew thought that Gilbert had the more menacing grin....wait, that's not the point!

" GILBERT!" Matthew shouted, his senses suddenly kicking in, and he finally realised the picture he was looking at. " What are you...why ....who....GET DOWN FROM THERE!" He sounded like Jim Carrey in his rendition of I Am The Walrus.

Gilbert was grinning. " Don't be such a fusspot, Milady!It's all cool now... Cause....WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE!" He started swaying his arms left and right, looking out of place on the bough of a tree and more in an outdoor concert with many other long haired bearded men and women holding their lighters up .

Matthew, in any other situation , would have been frightened . However, as it was Gilbert, he was not only frightened, but rather annoyed.

"Gilbert! You can get yourself hurt that way! How did you even get up there in the first place? And your explanation doesn't make sense! Do you like the Beatles so much that you have to sing that as an explanation?" Matthew yelled, running up to him and gesturing wildly.

However, as many people would know when chasing anybody who's up a tree and has no intention of coming down, that would have been a useless way . It was like trying to convince a cat to switch to reading in Hebrew. In any case, Gilbert was happily swinging his right leg back and forth, his left one only moving slightly, ignoring whatever Matthew was saying.

" Spring is here, a spring is here! Life is skittles and life is beer!" Gilbert was now singing, happily swaying his body back and forth.

Matthew, who was in no mood to join in singing about a couple poisoning pigeons in the park, was figuring how to climb up the tree to get him down. Firstly, Gilbert was rather big, he couldn't carry him down in his arms like he would for a cat. And he doubted that the tree branch could handle both his and Gilbert's weight...A sudden whoop broke his thoughts, and he was caught by the older man who had, in a single swoop fell backwards, his legs hooked tightly on the branch and hanging upside down, his arms touching nothing but air. Matthew gave a scream as he ran forward, anticipating the fall and the sickening crush of a skull meeting the ground.

However, that did not happen, and Gilbert was just swinging on his knees, going , " Whee!" every few minutes. Hoping that Gilbert's agility was as good as the Cheshire Cat's own, Matthew tentatively approached Gilbert and grabbed his middle , encircling both arms around Gilbert's tummy. Ignoring the giggles ( Giggles, Gilbert? He thought doubtfully) Gilbert made, Matthew lifted the man so that his knees on the tree branch would be unhooked from the branch . The older man allowed himself to be lifted and he clung on tightly to Matthew's knees as he was lifted down the branch.

Hoping against all hope that he would not drop Gilbert and further cause more of his brain cells to be destroyed, Matthew slowly bent down and gently placed Gilbert on the ground, face up.

" Honestly, was this what dealing with Gilbert was like when he was a kid? " Muttered Matthew. As he lowered the man's head on the floor . " I'm surprised his parents gave birth again after raising him for 6 years. And Ludwig must have been from another parent or something....." Silently, he began to make mental notes about calling and thanking his mom and dad for looking after Alfred and him for so many years if that was how they behaved.

Gilbert was now lying on the ground and had been laughing with a sort of manic gleam in his eyes, something which did not escape the younger blonde's notice. He looked at Gilbert in the eye and sternly said, " Gilbert Beilischmidt, I do not want you climbing any more trees when you're in this sort of physical impediment! Do you understand? "

The silver haired man was now happily shaking his head, most probably on purpose to aggravate him.

Matthew sighed. " Look, I'm going to let this slide, but please behave and try not to kill yourself , okay?" Leaning down, he went to his pack and brought out the water bottles, examining the water level. " Hm....running low...." he murmured He then passed the bottle to Gilbert. " Okay, drink up, but don't drink too much..."

Gilbert grabbed the bottle and gave it a good swig, happily drinking down the whole bottle.

" Argh!" Matthew growled as he placed his hands on his forehead, trying to get the pain in his brain out . He seriously wondered what was it that got him in this position in the first place and was hoping against all hope that somebody found them soon.

He did not notice, however, the small glance Gilbert had given to the despairing Canadian. Despite his grin, there was also a small note of concern and hurt that Gilbert had in his eyes. In his childlike state, he had never seen anyone look so sad before . And for some reason, the blonde man with yellow hair looking sad made him sad inside too.

A small pat was felt and Mattie looked behind him. He was greeted with the hurt look in Gilbert's eyes, almost filling up with tears. Without warning, Gilbert started hugging him, comforting Matthew once again. There it was, that warmth, that feeling of being needed by someone, especially since for once, it was not Matthew that seemed smaller and weaker. It was a welcome change, and one which not only terrified the Canadian, but also made him happy too.

Is this what parents feel like looking after kids? He thought. I guess parenting is a rewarding business, after all. Thought Matthew as Gilbert started patting his cheek in an affectionate manner.

The affection got lost quickly as suddenly Gilbert gave a slap .

Reeling from the pain, Matthew quickly glared at Gilbert. " What was that for?"

Gilbert gave a grin, reminiscent of his old self." Well, you were getting too cool there, milady! I prefer to be the only cool one in the room, if you don't mind. "

Matthew gave a groan, this time more of exasperation. Gilbert was still Gilbert, no matter what type of delirium he was in.

* * *

Ludwig was, to be truthful, lost.

Well, not literally lost. At the moment, he was standing at precisely 100 meters away from Team Three's campsite. They had insisted on being called Team Tomato, though , at the last count, were also perfectly willing to call themselves Team Tomato and Potato, because of the inclusion of Ludwig and Feliciano. This had led to a small scuffle between the two Italian brothers ( who were fighting over the tomato and the potato) , Vash ( who wanted to add in the cheese in the team name) and Yong Soo had included random shouts of kimchi into the fight. This led Ludwig to slowly back away from the camp after nodding silently to Antonio, acknowledging his leaving the campsite.

He hadn't really handled map reading before, and was eager to try it on his own for once. But now, with the actual paper in his left hand and a compass on his right, he was , for once, actually feeling a sense of desolation and loneliness.

Was it supposed to be this quiet?

It was really rather lonely to be without any form of noise whatsoever. No random singing from Feliciano, no loud proclamations of awesomeness from Gilbert, no humming of show tunes from the latest musicals from Roderich ( at the moment, it was Legally Blonde the Musical. Never et be said that pink is a dying trend.), no plonk of the frying pan from Elizaveta. All in all, the effect was rather eerie and creepy.

Ludwig could not remember exactly when was the last time he had experienced a full lull of silence.

_Was it during that time when I was 6 and Gilbert had to go on that school trip to Berlin?_ He mused. _No...that was when Grandpa had his friend over and brought that really cute girl over....Now that I think about it....who was that girl? I haven't thought about her for so long....She was rather cute...Wait....wasn't Grandpa's friend Principal Vargas? Then...he must know that girl ! Wait! Why was he thinking about her when his brother was in trouble? Focus! Concentrate!_

His eyes narrowing, Ludwig focused his gaze on the paper in front of him, studying the co-ordinates.

If he was correct, ( and he often prided himself on being right, thank you very much), Ludwig and Feliciano had been travelling through this route, he thought, placing a finger out to trace out the lane. There were thus a few possibilities as to where the two missing people were, provided that they were actually together and had not gone off in a different area.

He looked at his map and lifted his eyes from the map. Trees literally blocked his eyes and all he could see was a sea of green. If his brother and Matthew were missing, these trees were making it their way to not help Ludwig in his quest to find them.

Therefore....

Ludwig groaned slightly.

This was going to take awhile.

* * *

Matthew had finally managed to get Gilbert to settle down, despite Gilbert's fussing and whining. Sometimes, he felt as though he was dealing with an older 6 year old.

_I bet he would be one of those who would cry in happiness at the sight of a walk in refrigerator full of beer._ He thought, leaning against the tree as he sat down,watching Gilbert grabbing the polar bear Kilamanjaro and squeezing the life out of him. Poor Kilamanjaro had swipped a paw at his face, trying to wriggle out of his grip, but Gilbert seemed to be even more mesmerized, having tightened his grip on the fluffy white bear's face and started making out with him.

Matthew giggled at the sight, while little Gilbird , still sitting on Matthew's shoulder, was jumping up and down unhappily, chirping loudly and digging his tiny claws into his shoulders.

" Yeah, I know, I'm sorta jealous too." He told the tiny bird, which was yellow and fluffy in indignance. "Then again,iIt's not really everyday that you see a grown man making out with a polar bear." He chuckled, and went to his pack, trying to locate a granola bar that he had in his pack for emergencies. Opening the packet, he broke off a few bits and pushed some towards the bird . " As long as they don't have sex with each other, I'm rather okay with it." The bird, seemingly quiet with thought, chirped once in agreement and bit into a raisin .

Matthew smiled, and happily fed the bird a seed from the granola bar.

Suddenly, two arms encircled around Matthew's torso , making the blonde squeak in surprise at the abrupt heat he felt. Gilbird chirped happily. Turning around, his eyes met red pupils, with an evil gleam in them.

" And I suppose since you enjoyed watching me plant a big juicy one on the panda bear, you would , I suppose, be more exhilarated with the one I'll plant on you?" he murmured, swivelling the boy so that he faced him, hands capturing his face and looking deep into the pool of trembling , purplish blue . Matthew's heart stopped, while little Gilbird seemed to become more excited at the scene .

A small part of Matthew's brain seemed to wonder at the idea of little Gilbird being a shonen ai fan, while the larger part of Matthew's brain was practically acting the part of a shonen ai fan, screaming hysterically in glee. Gilbert 's eyes were smouldering, fiery orbs that hinted at a erm...hint of untold secrets . As his face continued to approach closer and closer, Matthew's eyes screwed shut, not willing to watch the scene , while his lips seemed to brace themselves, ready for the attack of soft lips on his own.

The attack never came. Matthew's eyes, still screwed shut, opened slightly, the brain disappointed at the lack of any action whatsoever.

His shoulder, however, felt a heavy weight land on it.

He opened his eyes fully, only to see a silver head lolling slightly on his own shoulder, eyes closed, mouth opened, breathing loudly , chest heaving up and down...

Matthew sighed, his own thoughts rolling softly in his brain. Just his luck. About to get his first kiss and stopped by the Sandman. Gilbird seemed slightly subdued, and Matthew wondered if that was because he didn't manage to see any action. Kumajiro ( finally!) had rolled on his back ,apparently having forgotten the make out session with the weird human with red eyes, and was right now happily stretching his limbs out, a characteristic move when the polar bear wanted to take a nap.

His owner rolled his eyes slightly. Only the bear could think about taking a nap at this time of the day.

Although sleep seemed to be a good idea , now that he thought about it.....The warmth on the afternoon sun basked onto his body, and the weight of Gilbert's own body was weighing himself down , making his body heavier and warmer. He pushed Gilbert's body so that he was now sitting next to Matthew, his head against his shoulder and his leg stretched out, placing the older man in a more comfortable position, making sure that the sun didn't get into his eyes, the bandages didn't seem to bunch up on any part of his head and snapping Gilbert's jaw shut so that the bags didn't fly in. The last part didn't work, and after awhile, Matthew gave up on that and just relaxed, feeling a small smile creep up against him as he felt ever so warm and calm.

As Gilbert snored, Matthew's thoughts became heavier and heavier.

Perhaps a nap was a good idea....He was feeling rather tired after all....Gilbert was a very tiring kid. Although he was charming when he slept, despite the snoring. Was that how his mom and dad felt , looking after them both? Weren't two children tiring?

His last thoughts were , _Wait, Kutomama isn't a panda bear....,_before his heavy eyelids finally closed.

* * *

**Argh-thor's notes:** **Yes! Second almost real liplock! I swear, sometimes I feel like I made my fave couple go through the saddest , most aggravating things. Gilbert has the insane personality of that Annoying Orange, Matthew is now watching Tom and Jerry ( aka Alfie and Artie ) on his mind television, and Gilbird has become a shounen ai fan.I duly apologize for the misconception scene. You guys thought they were having sex, right? Bwahahahhahahahahhahahahah! Not yet, people! I'm not that good yet!**

**Team Tomato and Potato, in the end , became Team Pizza. Well, as weird as any pizza with extra cheese, extra tomatoes, potatoes, sausages and kimchi on it. It took a few beatings before anyone would agree on the name. It'd be hilarious if you guys were there.**

**How does Matthew know the term shounen ai? Well....is it possible he could be an anime fan too?! Gods....he likes shoujo manga and funny anime . It's been really funny, as Alfred had always been complaining that his brother was a total geek. And then he goes and makes friends with people like Kiku and Gilbert, extreme otakus.**

**How did you guys like it? Don't leave me, kay? I'm trying!**

**Review! Or shounen ai Gilbird goes poof!**


	10. Backstories,Two Paths and Dreams Of

_**Chapter 10: Backstories, Two Paths and Dreams of Dark Wizards.**_

_**

* * *

**_

It was a dark and stormy night.

It really was. Unlike Snoopy, who never really managed to continue his story beyond that point, this chapter, however, does.

It was definitely the sort of scene which people would use to set a creepy Halloween story. This in this case, was sort of what was happening. If you counted the day which the resurrection of a famous, long thought dead Dark Lord a Halloween story, then it was an appropriate day.

Graveyards always tickled the Dark Lord. As it was, a place which signalled the end of life was ironically the place he had chosen to begin his new life. Life in the shrouds of Death, he mused, as his servant and henchman Wormtail was busying himself with the preparations of the ritual which they were about to do.

It would do him some good to be able to move his own limbs again. He thought with longing. Soon....once they have the final part of the ritual.....they would be able to start....

_And he'll be ruler, terrorist, emperor, King of an empire forgotten and long thought dead....._

He felt the air stir as a familiar tingling ran up his spine.

Magic was at work.

The time had come. Soon, he would have the boy in his hands....

There was a large thump, and two people emerged from the mist.

The Dark Lord lifted one nonexistent eyebrow. Well, tried to. Two people? He had only been expecting one.....well, no consequence. He'll just have to be rid of one. A part of him was already itching to get some killing done. Apparently the last kill, that old meddling Muggle at the Riddle house, was months ago, before the Triwizard competition. And he was yearning for more kills.

Wormtail seized the two boys, holding them up for his Master to see. The Lord Voldemort looked at them both coldly, and then uttered, "Kill the spare."

Wormtail nodded, and the words, "Avada Kedavra' was about to hit the figure on the right, when suddenly the figure yelled, "Wait! Why are you killing me for, eh?"

The Dark Lord paused (cause he never freezes, so not cool.) "Oh, begging for mercy. The day when victims actually do so has long been on my mind, and...."

"I mean, "The figure said, "I am the Chosen one, I don't understand why you're killing me off and leaving him." The figure came into Lord Voldemort's sight.

He was a bespectacled young man, with wavy blonde hair and a long, spring like curl coming out from it. Eyes of bluish purple fire stared at him, resolutely staring him down. He felt a chill run down his spine. The man was glaring at him as though he had murdered his entire family and had threatened the lives of the people he loved.

Yet the Dark Lord couldn't, for the life of him, figure out who _he _was.

"Who are you?"

The figure huffed, as though he knew he was going to face this question. "How rude! I am Matthew Williams, The Boy Who Lived, who at the age of one survived the Killing Curse that had murdered my parents and had single handed brought down you, Lord Voldemort! I am the one who you would come to kill many times, only to be defeated again and again! _What say you to that, Voldemort_?"

The triumphant challenge issued out was met with silence, with the hooded figure staring down at him, red eyes glinting dangerously in the darkness, slits moving back and forth, as though he was contemplating the boy in front of him. Finally, Voldemort raised his wand, pointed to the Boy Who Lived, and said, in a bored voice, "I have absolutely no idea who you are."

He pointed to the boy who had arrived with the speaking boy, and said, "I have only need of him. Take the other away."

The second figure, which had long been silent, started moving, his voice moaning slightly in pain. He stood up, revealing another boy, similar in build with Matthew, yet with clear blue eyes and a more confused expression on his face. "Whoa...That was just weird....hey, am I in Harry Potter's world? Cool! Am I the hero then?"

"Don't be so smug!" yelled the first boy, sounding angrier than he was. On the contrary, his eyes were tearing up, at yet another situation in which he was overshadowed by his twin. "It is I you are looking for, Voldemort! Leave my twin alone!"

"Ah," the sinister Voldemort whispered, stretching long, bony fingers towards the second boy, the skin strained and waxy against the dark moonlight. "Yes.....It has been long.....Alfred Jones......You are the one who I must destroy......"

"Stop!" Matthew yelled. "It's me you must duel! Look!" He raised the long blonde hair to show the thin scar on his forehead, shaped most inexplicably like a maple leaf.

"Look long and hard at this!" he shouted, nearly straining the soft voice he had. "This is the proof! This is the proof that shows that I was the one that faced you all those years ago! It is time for me to take my revenge-"

"Wormtail." Voldemort announced, lazily lounging in his chair." Take that nattering boy away. I have no idea who he is, but he is seriously cramping my torturing of the enemy..."

"I'M the enemy you want! " Matthew shouted, his arms seized from behind and being dragged away by Wormtail. "Not Alfred! God! He's supposed to be Cedric Diggory in this scene! I'm supposed to be Harry Potter!" He turned to Wormtail desperately, his voice holding a tone of urgency. "Wormtail, remember me? I set you free and alive in the last book? Then you turned into a rat and disappeared! Remember that?"

Wormtail cocked his head sideways and mused, "Yes....but I don't remember you, either." He turned to the direction of Voldemort. "In fact, the only one I do remember was that boy, Alfred Jones. He's not the main character, but he sure is famous."

" Hohoho!" Alfred was shouting. "Do your worst, tall skinny looking giraffe man!"

There was a yell of, " DO NOT CALL ME A GIRAFFE, Shorty four eyes! The name is Voldemort!"

Alfred wrinkled his nose. " Ew. Sounds like a bottle of detergent. "A light went off in his eyes. " How bout I call you Voldy- Pants? Now that's funny!"

"Argh! Die, scum!" A flash of light ensued, only to hear Alfred's laughter in the background.

Matthew looked scandalized. " How can he be the hero if all he does is make fun of the villain who is his mortal enemy and the one who must be defeated?" he demanded.

Wormtail shrugged, " Better him than somebody who we don't remember."

Matthew tried to retort, but suddenly Wormtail vanished and he was surrounded by many shadowy figures. He tried to run to each of them , to convince them that he was alive , he was the One. But as he wandered through the crowd, everyone just kept bumping into him, almost as though he had not been there in the first place. Panicking, he ran without looking, and bumped into someone. He looked up, and there he was. Somebody familiar....

" Gilbert! You've gotta help me! I'm the Chosen One , but nobody remembers me! You gotta convince them that it's me, not Alfred!" he said, desperately holding on to the man's collar, clinging to that one piece of hope he thought he had.

However, that hope was still lost as the pale man turned to look at him, with no recognition in his eyes, only a blank , unseeing look. Slowly , he opened his mouth, and in a deep, robotic voice, asked the three most terrible words Matthew thought would ever come out from his mouth.

" Who ....Are.....You?"

The yell of despair as Matthew collapsed to the floor was one which spoke of hopelessness, his one final fear coming true.

* * *

Gilbert was awoken by the feeling on an elbow suddenly jabbing into his side . His eyes opened, only to see Matthew thrashing and screaming in his sleep.

" Looks like Milady is having a nightmare...." He told a yellow fluffball, which had, while residing on the blonde's shoulder, had woken up in a flutter when Matthew started his thrashing and flew up, landing back on his original perch. The white fuzzball, on the other hand, merely opened one eye while raising his head, contemplated his owner, and the placed his head back down, preparing to go back to sleep.

" Is that how you show your love and loyalty for your owner?" Gilbert muttered as he winced slightly, placing a hand on his bandaged head. He then went to Matthew and placed a hand on his shoulder, patting him awake.

No results.

He then seized the boy's shoulder and shook it harder. That got a reaction from the younger boy, his eyes had snapped open to reveal his usual eye colour gaining more purple, almost ethereal and unreal, like a fae's own eyes.

" Gilbert!" He shouted, grabbing ahold of Gilbert's shoulders and looking terrified. " What is my name , my age and my pet? And what year is this?"

The older man blinked, not expecting such a reaction after what seemed like a serious nightmare. "Erm....You're Matthew Williams, I believe you're the same age as my younger brother, and you have that fluffball in front of you that you call in a variety of names that start with K. And Adam Lambert's season was last year, so it's what? 2010?"

Matthew gave a huge sigh of relief and collapsed once again against Gilbert, his chest heaving up and down. " Oh thank god. The next time Voldemort tries to get at me-" he suddenly stopped, realising the full extent of the dream he had, and immediately shut up.

Gilbert was quiet too, but for a different reason. " Why does my mouth taste like fish?"

_Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Road_

_And Sorry I Could Not Travel both......_

_Wait.....what the hell am I doing?_ Thought Ludwig, as he stared at the path in front of him. And indeed, there were two little roads that were, in a coincidence that could only be worthy of a cheesy fanfiction story_. In fact , fanfiction was the biggest of the nonsense. _Thought Ludwig._ All those fans , all fawning over characters that couldn't even be considered realistic. And the whole ...what did Gilbert call it? Slashing?_

He shuddered. He really didn't want to be reminded of the thought.

Of course, the whole idea of irony didn't occur to Ludwig then, as he stared down the two paths in front of him.

Which one should he take? He wondered, looking apprehensive. Looking down at the map, he examined it with absolute scrutiny ( _what else would he be examining it with? A sponge? A plate of pasta? Hm....examining it with a plate of pasta.....shit, sorry!_) before looking back up at the paths. The map had only documented one path, which was the one on the right. So logically, he should take the path on the right, right? Cause it had been certified by professionals?

He saw the right path first, which was illuminated by a sunny glow of the bright sun. Birdsong was coming out from the trees, chirping a merry tune, while little woodland creatures, such as the squirrels scurried in and out of the path.

He then turned to the left path, which now looked rather cold and lonely, trees dark and tinged with grayish clouds and a chorus of ghostly children singing in Latin about his impending doom....

Okay, too much imagination. He blamed that Italian for that random thought. Or the recent slew of random thoughts he had in his mind. It was practically turning his organised , alphabetical from A-Z mind into a very mess cabinet in his home office part of his brain ( located primarily in his brain, completely furnished with houseplants.)

In any case, there it was. Two little roads,diverging from one path in a yellow wood. It was obvious which one he had to choose first. Didn't people say that the road less taken was much harder, but in the end more fruitful?

He looked back at the road that was definitely less taken and couldn't help but surpress a shudder.

Well. It wasn't the Ritz.

But it was his brother on the line....

* * *

" So...." drawled Gilbert.

They were sitting around a small fire that Matthew, with Gilbert's supervision, had managed to build with the collection of twigs and small dried leaves around them. Kumajiro was now cuddling around Matthew's lap, while the tiny little Gilbird had floated out towards the white fur and nestled itself snugly around the bear's back. The scene would have made Matthew go gooey with warmth if not for the fact that he was overwhelmed with embarrassment over being caught by someone while having a dream almost deemed childish by everyone else his age.

_It's just not right ! He knows about my obsession with Harry Potter!_ He moaned inwardly. _And I almost told him about that part of the dream with him in it! He's going to think I'm such a wuss, being sad over him abandoning me!! Wait, I think he already does! Argh, crap! Why did I have to cry and act all weak in front of him! Why can't I be more like Alfred! Damnit, damnit damn-_

" Oy, Milady. Stop your spazzing already." Gilbert said lazily, a piece of grass between his teeth and doing his best resemblance of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn. "Harry Potter themed dreams are experienced by everyone who read the books, which is to say nearly everyone in the world. Luddikins once had a dream that that blonde guy... Lucius Malfoy , was it? Anyway, Luddie once dreamt that that guy wore a strawberry pink leotard and along with the rest of the henchmen, were practicing the can-can, all wearing similar looking leotards. Then they suddenly wore costumes of the Village People and were doing the YMCA dance. I think that the snake guy erm....Moudly shorts, was it? Was wearing the Native American costume with tight leather."

Matthew , who had stopped his spazzing , was now listening intently to Gilbert, eyes wide . " Erm....Voldermort in YMCA?" Internally, he envisioned the set of Death Eaters in a dance studio all holding on to the barre and raising their legs in stretching. That fat guy Wormtail would look like a very large bit of strawberry. Though he really wouldn't want to eat him...

" In any case, everyone gets Harry Potter themed dreams , even at your age ." Gilbert continued, grabbing a stick and poking the campfire twigs. " And it could be worse. Some guys dream of being Doraemon."

" I don't really know if that counts as reassurement, but thanks anyway. " Muttered Matthew. He crawled to Gilbert's side, trying his best not to disturb the napping bear . "How's your head and ankle?"

Gilbert raised his head a little." Like the time I went to Roderich's party and attempted to run and slide under the table, only to trip and hit my head on the floor. 'Cept it's like thousand times worse."He lifted his leg experimentally , and pain blossomed on his face. " Damn....what did I do? Didn't hurt so much just now."

" Stop moving." Matthew commanded." I think you did all that climbing a tree just now . And your one man's act of singing was not fantastic too, by the way. Nobody listens to the Beatles anymore."

" Oh , and I suppose you're a better singer? When we get out of this forest, I'm going to challenge you to Karaoke Revolution! See who can sing better!" Gilbert yelled, charging out of his seat in a bid to stand up, fist pumped out. Then his face turned white with exertion and nearly collapsed to the ground.

"You see!" Matthew scolded, grabbing him around his middle to steady him. " If you keep moving, you won't have enough blood to move around later! You lost quite a bit of blood just now, you know."

" Tchh! I lost more before! A little blow's not going to kill me......" Gilbert grumbled as Matthew gently deposited him to the ground.

Matthew sighed." If you're going to be moving around , you'll faint faster, you know. Then you'll be unconscious for so long that you won't get any pancakes, you hear me?"

Gilbert gave a gasp of mock horror. " Oh no! No pancakes! How would I survive?"

* * *

After a few minutes of walking into the Road Less Taken, Ludwig was beginning to have second thoughts.

So far, the only thing that had alerted his senses was the ever descending temperature. This did nothing for Ludwig's psyche, except perhaps grit his teeth/chatter his teeth ever quicker with each step he took.

( A few months later, during his semi-annual visit to the Dentist, the attending had asked if Ludwig had been doing anything strenuous with his teeth, as the enamel in the molars had suffered quite a huge damage, much like if Ludwig had been gritting his teeth in stress for quite a long bit of time. Ludwig would sigh and mutter something about "Bruder" , "path less taken" and " Cold temperatures". The Doctor nodded in understanding. He had been in a few of those situations before.)

In any case, Ludwig was, in a few words, " Frightened out of his wits."

Don't get him wrong. Usually Ludwig was an unflappable person, unlike his best friend Feliciano, who would go crazy or overdramatize/overreact with any situation. However, Ludwig was still a 17 year old, in many cases, still a kid and prone to becoming frightened. He was not a boy, but not yet a man......great, now we're sorta paraphrasing Britney Spears. Please at this point ignore that part and just accept that Ludwig was frightened. Back to the story.

So there Ludwig was, standing there, armed with a stick and travelling on a cold , barren road. Yet, the road wasn't so barren that it did not have a small, white round object that suddenly rolled into his path.

Ludwig blinked, as his wariness went up a few notches. Why would a white object like that suddenly roll over to his path like that? Bending down, he went forth to get a better look of the round object.

It seemed to be made of some sort of yeasty dough.....white in colour.....somehow, it reminded him of something familiar...but that smell , that sound....

Ludwig's eyes widened. Then he proceeded to do a small run and dramatic jump as the small white , crackling object burst and exploded, making the loudest crackling noises ever heard.

* * *

One hour later.....

" Pancake....maple syrup...."

" Oh fine, I'll make some up. Stop dying."

* * *

" Wow...so it is true that gwailo can look cool when doing a bomb explosion jump..." a calm voice deadpanned as Ludwig coughed , trying to get the smoke out of his system. Ludwig, however, wasn't as calm as he knew that voice. Only one boy could have sent a small white Chinese bao rolling towards his direction and only one boy could making his food turn explosive.

" _Donald_?"yelled Ludwig. " Exactly what are you doing here? And what's with the whole , " Trying to kill me " bit?!"

The boy from Hong Kong calmly picked up the remains of a bun shaped explosive that had gone off and said, " Oops, my apologies, Ludwig . I believe I dropped this. "

" Dropped?! You ..... You dropped an explosive snack bun from 20 meters away?!"Ludwig couldn't help but yell, his usual stoic demeanour shaken by the effects of the bomb explosion and was now taking a more flustered approach to the problem. This usually never really happened to Ludwig. But remember, he was only a teen and had just been shaken up by an explosive.

Donald sighed, looking as bored as ever, though his golden eyes held a slight glint of sadistic malevolence in them. " Firstly, Ludwig, they're called Bao. Not just a snack bun, but a bao. Usually, Chinese people eat stuff like that during Dim Sum, which is basically snack time....Secondly, I wouldn't call it 20 meters away...more like 30 meters....boy ,your calculations are way off....."

" That's not the point! Why are you trying to kill me?! And don't tell me you " dropped" them! That thing _rolled_ towards me as though it hadn't a care in the world! It had your rolling signature, Wong!"

" Now you're getting paranoid, Ludwig dai gor." Donald calmly picked up the bao. " I had some free time , so I thought I could plant some of my experiments around and see how they work. This one's a red bean paste filling bun, a Dou Sa Bao bomb....supposed to act more like a smoke bomb.....I better see what made them explode like that....."

" Argh! " yelled Ludwig. " Why, Donald?! Why?!!! Was there a need? You already did so on the bus , which was what you did to get out of the camp, remember?!"

Donald smirked. "Oh, but you see, that was the smaller shrimp dumpling one, the har gao firecrackers, guaranteed to do maximum damage in an enclosed area. Besides, I was having motion sickness. I had to do something, so I tried to destroy the bus...."

Ludwig was, by now speechless. "You tried to destroy the bus cause it gave you MOTION SICKNESS?!"

The Asian boy shrugged. "How else would you recommend I destroy the hold it had on me?" He picked up the remains of the bun bomb, then looked back. "Anyway, Dai Lo, I have to go now, need to check on the pastry filling back in camp.... Tally ho, old chum! "

And with that , Donald walked away from the scene, leaving a very flustered Ludwig to contemplate just why on earth did the Lord above grant him troublesome fellows to deal with. He'll have to write a book on them someday. And nobody would ever realise that the book was actually a non-fiction piece.

* * *

" Where did you learn to cook this?!" Gilbert gasped, nearly choking on the piece of pancake while gasping . A few bits of coughing later, and a swig of maple syrup helped to bring down the piece of pancake he was eating.

Matthew blushed, while he used the spatula to distribute two pancakes to his plate. " My mom's a pastry chef baker sorta person, and she used to make loads of awesome desserts for us. She also made her own maple syrup along with the pancakes. I used to spend Sunday mornings when I was a kid learning to make stuff with her while making breakfast for us."

Gilbert grinned. " Mom, huh? She must have been one fine ..."pastry chef baker sorta person" if she taught you how to make such wonderful pancakes...she taught you and Alfred how to cook?"

" Yeah, well. Al can cook, but he's kinda lazy about it. Mom used to worry about how he and Dad were coping without her home cooking. She forgot that Dad was a huge director by then and could afford a housekeeper , servants and a chef in the house...." Matthew laughed slightly." Mom always did have this thing about forgetting that Dad could take care of himself...."

Gilbert glanced at Matthew, and was surprised to see a look of cynicism on his face. He attempted to change the subject. "So...you and your mom are close, huh?"

" Yeah. After the divorce, Mom moved back to Canada and I wanted to stay with her, so I did. Al and I were about 13 when that happened. Al remained with Dad in LA ."

" Ouch. Sorry about that."

" It's okay, Al and I saw each other every month, and during holidays, we'll either vacation in US, Canada or overseas. We're close, but sometimes I think he forgets about me when I'm back visting the house in LA."

" I don't think I could handle that , not seeing Ludwig every day. He and I are the only ones left."

" Oh, dear....I apologize."

" No biggie, milady. It was an accident and Ludwig and I were pretty young when that happened. Didn't see them much, they were always travelling around .Was raised by my grandpa. "

" Grandpa?"

" Yeap. Opa Lukas raised us the most, but then we got visits from Uncle Fritz .Now that was an Uncle you can miss. That man taught me a lot...besides Uncle Romulus , of course."

" Uncl-you know Principal Vargas?!"

" Well, he's my boss , after all...."

" Erm...I meant..."

" Haha, milady, the blush on your face as you try to correct yourself is priceless."

" Ngk"

" No worries. Romulus is his first name. He and Opa were good friends in the army....at least I think they were good friends, Opa always did seem a bit exasperated with him. In any case, he visited every few months when I was a kid...taught me a few moves too. He's a black belt, first dan, you know."

Matthew could imagine it, a four year old Gilbert, his face red with concentration, trying his best to attempt a high kick and imitate the taller , dark haired stocky man. It was almost adorable.

" Anyway, Uncle Romie liked to visit Opa and play with me too, called me " Aquila" cause I was obsessed with eagles when I was a kid. Course, that was all back in Germany. Uncle Romulus then came here to start his school. He had a pair of twin grandsons two years later....really cute too... he brought them over to visit a few times when they were about 4 or 5...."

Matthew thought back to Feliciano Vargas and the boy he had seen sitting next to him, the rather grumpy looking one. " Funny, they don't really look alike...."

"Fraternal twins, they are. In any case, Ludwig was born around a few months later than they were...Wouldn't believe that he's actually younger than Felici, eh?" Gilbert grinned, thinking back to the many times he had teased West about it. " Before that, though, our family and I lived in East side of Berlin. After the Berlin Wall fell, we moved to West Berlin and had a good few years, Ludwig was born then. Then when he was one, our parents left us to Opa to tour the world as UN Peace Keepers. " The expression turned slightly soft, " I don't miss them much, and Opa did say they died in combat...."

There was a silence. In a bid to change the subject, Matthew said, " So ...how did you end up here, anyway? Germany's pretty far from here ."

Gilbert smirked, albeit sadly." Grandpa passed on when I was 20. That was five years ago. He had already given me and Ludwig separate trusts for our future and we were pretty much well provided for. But...it was kinda a big loss, ya know? He was our guardian, after all. Then, Uncle Romulus came back..."

* * *

"_Aquila." came a small, baritone voice that came in from the kitchen door. Gilbert , clad in black, didn't need to look up to the owner of the voice. He merely nodded and the stocky man came in._

" _It's been a long time,Aquila. " said the man, shuffling his feet slightly as he tried to think of something to say. Gilbert nodded, silent from grief._

_The older man , still young for his age of 58, shuffled to place a hand around the younger man's shoulders." He had a full life, kid. Served his country, led his men to combat, raised a family and kids and Grandkids," (tilting his head towards a family photo. )gave back to his community, and taught you so much in fighting and morals. You've grown into a fine young man, Gilbert. And so has Ludwig."_

_Gilbert had no idea whether to laugh or cry at that statement._

"_In fact, considering his age, I think that God above "( now making a cross with his hands) has a place for him to help lead his warriors. You can imagine, him shouting at the troops and making them do pushups...."_

_Now Gilbert did sort of choke ,but he was doing so out of amusement. He could actually imagine Grandpa Lukas doing so, shouting at a few white winged angels and complaining that Heaven was too soft on its inhabitants, making sure that all of they rolled out of bed at 0500 hours to do exercises._

_Romulus Vargas laughed too. " Yes, that was always Lukas." Evidently he had seen the exact same picture in his mind's eyes. _

_The two men laughed for a while, finally sitting down to support their trembling legs from the laughter. Gilbert then grew solemn and looked at Romulus. " What about Ludwig? He's only 14...they won't take him away from me, right?"_

_Romulus nodded. " Evidently, I was there when your Opa wrote his will. Far from letting the authorities take your brother away, he had specifically requested that you have legal guardianship of him, provided you were 18 at the time of his death."_

_Gilbert was stunned. " He made me a guardian? I always thought he said I was an irresponsible, arrogant, cackling..."_

" _Narcissistic, crazy ,incorrigible, loony, cocky ,foolish, foolhardy...." Romulus continued._

" _I get it, I get it!"_

"_He also said that you were also one of the best people to bring up Ludwig. " Romulus murmured softly, ruffling the man's head." He meant it, boy. You know he did."_

" _Oh." Gilbert intoned softly._

_There was a soft knock, and a tall , gangly boy walked in. He was all knees and elbows, and his hair fell into his eyes, giving him an awkward appearance, as though he did not know where to put his arms and elbows. He shyly bowed to Romulus, then turned to Gilbert. " Bruder, the lawyers are looking for you."_

" _I'll be there in a second, _Westen_." Said Gilbert, smiling slightly." Go to the store and get a pint of milk first, please?"_

_The awkward boy nodded, then walked out the door._

" _Gilbert, what are you going to do now, then?" said the brunette, pushing out of his chair to walk to the fridge._

_Gilbert said, " I have to leave my part time job. It's not going to raise enough money for me and Ludwig . So I'm going to forego University for awhile and then take up an office job . More steady,and I can do admin work. And I still can put Ludwig through schooling and stuff."_

" _But what about Ludwig's own welfare? And, for that matter, yours?" Romulus wanted to know. " I don't believe forgoing University is the best idea. In the end, you have your life to consider too, not only Ludwig's. Besides, you're in your second year already. I don't really think it's time you quit yet."_

_Frustrated, Gilbert tightened his hand into a fist, as though he had gone through the argument again and again in his head. "It's not what I want to do, but it's the only thing I can do , at the moment. Anyway, I'm all Ludwig's got left. And he's all I've got left. I'll do anything to make sure he succeeds. It won't do well anyway. We need to earn a living, and I need to raise Ludwig."_

_Romulus chuckled. " Well, you have to see the lawyers for that stuff. Besides, if you need to earn and raise a 14 year old teen, you might as well do it near someone who can help."_

_Gilbert looked up, confused." Meaning?"_

_

* * *

_

"... And that was when he offered me the job." Concluded Gilbert, taking a bite out of his pancake dripping with maple syrup. " I moved a few months later, along with Ludwig here and continued my university stuff with the university here, while Ludwig enrolled in Hetalia International. Did some admin work for the principal part time, graduated, then came to work for him fulltime." He smiled." He's a great man, Romulus Vargas is. "

Matthew , entranced by the entire story, asked, " How did you cope? I mean, it's a long way from home...and this place is nothing like Europe was..."

" I tell myself that this place needed my awesome presence and I deal with it." Gilbert grinned. " Why get used to the place when you can get the place used to you?" He went back to take a swig of his water from the bottle." Besides, the important thing is, it's for Ludwig's own good. And I'll do anything for Ludwig. Even move to a strange place which still hasn't gotten used to me."

The blonde sat there, stunned by the revelations of the older man. He was so cocksure, so swaggerish, yet there was a heart beneath that cackling facade. A good heart, nevertheless. He was beginning to see the real heart behind that man.

A brief silence later, and Gilbert had to break Matthew's impression of him." So...are you making more pancakes, or do I have to remind you that you said you'll make me pancakes everyday?"

* * *

" If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it, if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it...." muttered Ludwig as he continued to walk through the forest, armed with a stick and a fierce demeanour, masking his extreme nervousness as he walked down one path. Singing tended to calm him down . Unfortunately, he didn't think some of the songs he actually knew the words to were cheerful enough to make him less nervous so he picked the first song that came to his head, which happened to be a song that Gilbert sang when he drove around in his car.

While it was quite embarrassing to sing a song about single ladies, he was comforted by the fact that at least Feliciano was not there to hear him. It wasn't as though his baritone voice was good enough to sing something like that anyway. He was quite lucky that Feliciano did not see his earlier performance with Donald either. That would have been quite a bit of a disgrace.

He seriously needed a cookie....

Suddenly, a silver flash appeared out of the corner of his eye, and Ludwig quickly turned around , trying to catch a glance of the flash.

There was nothing there. Yet....Ludwig could feel himself getting colder and colder....He shivered. Damned the path of the road less taken!

The flash occurred again, and Ludwig held on harder to his stick, ready to arm himself against intruders, yet also hopeful that it was his brother that was the cause of the silver flash. With much apprehension, and holding on to the stick, he took one more step, only to jump a foot mile when he felt an icy cold hand touch his shoulder. He then reacted by turning to swing the heavy stick, only for the stick to be stopped mid-swing by a large , pale hand, belonging to a familiar face which he wished he did not have to see even in these circumstances.

" Braginski?! " yelled Ludwig in shock. He then quickly looked at the stick, and threw it off. " What are you doing here?"

The large boy smiled, although Ludwig felt that his smile had held a touch of deviousness to it, and he ran a hand through his silver blonde hair. This made Ludwig realised that the silver flash he had seen was from the Russian's boy silver blonde hair though it was clearly more blonde than the silver tone of his brother's spiky hair.

" It's Ivan, Friend Ludwig! Please, do not concede to refer to me by surnames. It is such a cold reference to one who should be good friends with each other!" beamed the boy. He placed his larger arm around the German boy , who started shivering uncontrollably despite the heat and humidity. While he certainly respected the big , Russian boy, he knew that Feliciano still ran away from him crying with every encounter with the giant Russian boy. And he himself had had encounters with the boy while waiting with Feliciano for Lovino and the Spanish Teacher / Gardening Club Teacher IC to come out of the club meetings. All he could say was, Braginsk-no, Ivan was friendly, yes. But also unnerving. It was really out of his line of reasoning as to how he was one of the best gardeners in the Gardening Club.

The big Russian boy continued, " Well, we are in the island for a week, and it is inevitable that we would run into each other at one point or another....." He pointed to a video camera, which seemed out of place and small in comparison to his big hand ." And I am doing the project that we are assigned to, da? I am trying to find a guest star for my Tv show..."

" Oh right, the third task..." he muttered , struggling to look normal and calm. Inwardly, his brain cautioned softly. Look normal and calm, and somehow run away from the boy when he's not looking. No , that was Feliciano's way of doing things. Somehow politely make an excuse to leave. Yes, that was it. Make an excuse to leave politely....

" So, with such trouble , I believe that you would be perfect for my guest star for my TV show, da, Friend Ludwig?" Ivan beamed while the camera he held in his large hand loomed threateningly over Ludwig's head. Before Ludwig could react, a saviour emerged as they both heard a little rustle of the bushes and a sort of sound made by a rather unsuspecting someone behind them. It seemed to be some sort of warbling, perhaps a song being sung.

" Par.......Ree holds the key to your heart......." The rather deep sort of warbling was, rather than just any unsuspecting person, happened to be another familiar person with shoulder length blonde hair, piercing blue eyes and a habit of playing photoshop with his background as Ludwig could faintly see golden rose petals surrounding an Eiffel Tower.

The reaction by the audience was astounding . One minute there was Ivan , standing in front of Ludwig, the next he had mysteriously disappeared and had managed to somewhat appear, ghost like, in front of Francis. The next sound Ludwig heard was an uncharacteristic squeak , or some sort of scream, and Ivan had grabbed Francis by the waist and had run off, Francis now over his shoulder, screaming his lungs out.

Amid the screams, Ludwig could hear Ivan yell, " I'll see you again, Ludwig! And by the way, I'm Ivan! Don't call me Braginski anymore!" And then he was gone, disappearing into the woods.

Ludwig was stunned for a few minutes, before he realised that there was nothing more he could do for the French boy. He shrugged and picked up his stick, walking off into the forest. Just another weird occurrence in his life that he could do less of.

* * *

" No way! You can't be saying that The Simpsons is better than Family Guy! You got to be kidding me! Everyone can see that Family Guy is just a copycat of The Simpsons! You've got a deadbeat dad, a long suffering wife, a mischievous son and a outcast daughter, not to mention a baby that is actually smarter than anyone else would see! The Simpsons are the originals in cartoons!"

" Now , you're deluded." Gilbert scoffed, slowly but surely reaching out for a pancake on Matthew's own plate. " The Simpsons may be originals, but Family Guy takes their jokes to the limit. Stewie, for example, is one of the best criminal masterminds ever! Did you see that punk baby on the Simpsons doing that? "

" Maggie is NOT a punk baby. " Matthew retorted." She just has spiky hair. Like Lisa."He reached a hand to quickly slap Gilbert's own so that he could avoid taking the pancake. " And that's my pancake! I fed you 5 already!"

" Aw....gott, Milady, fair is fair! I entertain you with my awesome presence and near told you my life story, so give me a pancake already!"

" Oh , hush, you insane , crazy maple syrup maniac." Matthew scolded." Look, if you don't behave yourself, we won't have any pancakes tomorrow. We're running out of pancake mix as it is."

" Tch! You shouldn't let stuff like that get you down!"Gilbert rationalized. " Besides, it's your turn!"

" Quoi?"

" Don't try and canadianize me. Your back story! I told you mine, so it's yours now!"Gilbert demanded, a gleam in his eye.

Aghast, Matthew flailed his arms." I can't tell you my life story! I don't even know where to start! It's too long!" His eye caught on the pancake and he said, " Ooh, look, I'm kinda full...do you want that pancake, Gil ? I can't finish it!"

He hoped that this would take the attention off him and distract the older man from him.

Unfortunately, that didn't do the trick.

" Unfortunately, that didn't do the trick, Milady Canadian."

Damn, he knew it was a distraction ploy!

" I'm not some sort of storytelling machine!" He flailed.

"Okay, we'll do it 20 questions sorta style." Gilbert said, trying to reach forward and wincing.

" Full Name?" Gilbert asked.

" I was christened Matthew Jonathan Jones."

" Why the name change? You're Williams now, eh?"

" Okay, I'm Matthew Jonathan Williams, I legally changed my name after I moved back with my mom."

" Oh my god, you're one of those switcher namers!" Gilbert mock gasped." You can be Williams one day, Jones the next, Jonathan one day, Matthew the next....that's kinda cool! You can be a spy!"

" Oh shut up."

Suddenly, Gilbert turned serious. " Why with your mom, anyway? I mean, it was a divorce, right? I mean, that's got to hurt, but there was no need to separate you and your brother..."

" Oh no, that was my choice."

Gilbert looked at the smaller blonde in surprise.

" Yeah well, my family was kinda shocked too...."

* * *

" _Mathew?" His mother walked into the room her sons shared , confronting the small form of her son curled up on his bed, nearly swallowed up by the giant form of a giant Husky, which raised its head in acknowledgement of his master. The smaller boy turned over and sat up, blue purple eyes mirroring the ones in his mother's face._

" _Kid, I saw the letter you drafted on the kitchen table regarding your change of schools...exactly what did you and Alfred argue about this time?" Bridget Jones sighed as she placed her hand on Matthew's own to ruffle it._

_Matthew, at the age of 13 and a half,looked at his mom straight in the face with solemn , fairy like, 13 year old eyes, and whispered. " You, Mom." _

_She blinked , as Matthew continued, " Mom, I know...about the divorce and stuff...there was no need to keep it from me and Alfred." _

_There was a brief silence in the air as Bridget Jones registered what her son had said. Finally, she managed to rustle out something to ask her son." You and Alfred figured it out already? How long?"_

_Matthew replied, " Well, Alfred hasn't really figured it out yet, but he knows that something's wrong with you guys. But for me, I'll say it's been about what, 6 months already?"_

_Bridget blanched slightly, but she immediately recovered her expression, all the while reassessing her son . He's smarter than he looks..._

_He continued, " In any case , you and dad are separating and you're going back to Canada. The letter is so that you can start the paperwork to transfer me over to a new school in Ottawa . Its a rather good one with a good reputation, and I can go to a good college after that-"_

" _Woah, woah, woah!" His mom said, holding her hands out in a bid to stop the flow of words. " Sweetheart, when did I say that you were moving with me to Canada? You have a life here, with your father, your brother and all your friends..."_

" _And I hate it if you leave without me!" Matthew shouted, sitting up straighter than ever and looking very earnestly into his mother's eyes. "Mom, seriously. You need me in Canada! Alfred has his life here, he's more independent than I am, he can cope with anything! But I'm selfish, mom! I want to be with you , and if you and dad don't love each other anymore, I'm going to make sure you still have a reminder of him every day with you! You're not going to run away that easily!"_

_The taller, blonde woman was at a loss of words, as her own son poured out his own fears and thoughts. _So that's what he thought happened between us? _ Tears poured out of her eyes as she looked at her son again, this time with new eyes. Matthew, seemingly embarrassed, turned away from his mother, fighting back tears that hinted at a well of emotions pooling deep below the surface of purple blue eyes._

_Gently, Matthew's mother reached out to tuck a curl behind her son's ear." Oh, son...you've got it all wrong... we're divorcing cause your father and I still love each other..."_

_Matthew frowned , rubbing his eyes ." Mom, I'm not five anymore. "_

" _No, I'm serious, my dear boy. With many people, they have enough love that they can live and support each other throughout their lives. With your father and me..." she hesitated, trying to find a way to explain herself better. " With your father and I...we love each other too much...so much that we can antagonise each other with all that love brings us....jealousy, greed, anger ...In any case, what happened was that too much love can lead us to result in hate...and with your father's new career and all, it's going to be very hard for us to love each other and trust each other properly now, even with the amount of time we have spent together. Think of it as a need to separate ourselves before we do something damaging to ourselves."_

_Matthew nodded , looking into the distance seriously for awhile before going back to his mother's face ." Then must you speak of one that loved not wisely, but too well; Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme."_

_Bridget could smile at her son and say, " Yes my son, a lot like Desdemona and Othello. You've been reading the text."_

" _Only for literature..." Matthew rolled his eyes." My literature class is ever so boring...."_

_She could only smile. " So you understand when I say that Mommy needs to leave, right? Your dad and I will still be friends, and it's going to take a lot to get me out of you and your brother's lives, you know that?"_

" _Mom." Now Matthew looked at his mother straight in the eyes, violet against violet. " I'm coming with you, no matter what. It was a deal from the start. And its my choice. So I'm coming along with you."_

_Before Bridget could say anything, Matthew quickly started talking, " And I'm going to take your name , Williams, and I've started researching schools nearby so that I can go and study there ...there's this place that has an excellent literature programme ...and I've even bought a few books....believe me , mom. It's going to be a blast. And no, I'm not running away from my problems or anything, I just want to be with you. I'll talk to Al everyday and email him , and I'll call dad too, we won't be too busy for each other...."_

" _Son." She murmured, hugging her son tightly against her bosom. " You're so decisive now! Where's that timid , sweet boy that let his brother do everything for him? "_

_Matthew looked up to his mother and hugged back. " You and dad raised me, mom."_

_

* * *

_

"So I moved to Ottawa with mom and Al stayed with dad back in LA. " said Matthew, stoking the fire and watching the fire crack and pop. " I talked to dad, who understood my decision and Al was alright after a few crying sessions. "

Gilbert himself was quiet. This was even more major than he thought . " It must have been sort of crappy when you were moved to this country, huh?"

" Well, not really. Dad was starting on this new school anyway, and mom thought it was a great opportunity to send me to study with my brother. It's for my own good, and there's a good writing programme here in Hetalia International..."

However, Gilbert could feel that Matthew was suppressing his feelings again. " Be honest, Milady."

The boy sat there, and Gilbert , for the first time could see that the smaller boy , who had tried to put on a mask of easy-goingness, was in actual fact, upset over the decision. " I sometimes felt as though she was abandoning me , sending me here with dad. Besides, I may have only stayed there for 5 years, but Ottawa...with mom and Huckleberry and all....That was MY home. This place..." gesturing at their surroundings . " This isn't it. It's so totally different. The weather sucks, I'm sweating all the time, I hate having to stay inside all the time, lowering the temperature all the time with the air conditioner so it becomes colder, and ...."now he was at a loss, trying to find a way to explain his exact feelings. " It's just not Ottawa." There. He said it.

Both of them stared into the distance, trying their best to break the silence, but failing rather badly, for both of them couldn't think of anything. Finally, Gilbert mustered up a sound. " My Uncle Fritz once said that home was not necessarily a place where you lived, you know. Sometimes, you can be moving around the world and you can't go back there, due to times, places and circumstances changing so much. Instead, home was a more metaphysical thing, ya know?"

Matthew frowned. " Explain."

" Well...Uncle Fritz was a roamer...he couldn't stay in a place long enough for him to settle down and raise kids,but he always said home was wherever your heart felt complete. You can be in the crappiest place at the most crappiest times, but you can still call it home when your heart was feeling full."

Both of them stared at each other before Gilbert started laughing. " Uncle Fritz never really made much sense, you know? "

They both laughed at that, but Matthew stopped laughing first, turning earnestly at Gilbert and saying, " It's not so bad now, this place. Guess it's good to have a friend to talk about everything, right?"

Gilbert smiled, genuinely smiled. " Yeah well, we're awesome that way. Now pour some of that Maple syrup here, I'm gonna make a toast!"

" You can't drink maple syrup from the bottle like that! You'll get diabetes! GILBERT!"

And there was laughter , so much mirth and warmth, so much happiness in that small group of two.

* * *

" Lonely... I'm Mr. Lonely....I have nobody....for my own...DAMNIT! BRUDER! WHERE ARE YOU?"

* * *

_**Argh-tor's notes: God...from now on, just ignore me when I promise stuff. I'm just gonna send the chapters up when I can.**_

_**Has anyone eaten Lebanese food before? I 'm watching TV and they were showing these crepes, which, in my opinion, look absolutely delish. They have cheese, pesto , fruit and EVERYTHING! My recommendation is...if you haven't eaten Lebanese food, eat it. **_

_**I also recommend Indian Paneer, which is some sort of cheese that's eaten with bread that resembles naan.....yums galore. **_

_**So you guys have Matthew and Gilbert's backstories, which explains why they are in a strange country, Gilbert out of necessity, Matthew ...because he was sent there. My best friend's not happy that I killed off Opa Lukas, but it was necessary, I swear! If not, Gilbert and Ludwig would be stuck in Germany for the rest of their lives, and Ludwig wouldn't have met Feliciano and Gilbert wouldn't have met Matthew!**_

_**And here we have three unexpected guests from the other teams! Seriously, they were really unexpected....they just appeared out of nowhere. I loved Donald, and he had to appear sooner or later in the story. And Ivan's kidnapping of Francis has a reason.....the next chapter is ANOTHER SPECIAL OMAKE! ( TA –DA-DA DA!!) and you gotta believe me when I say....it's gonna be an American Idol Special Omake! Yes, imagine .....Heracles and Sadiq will be singing !**_

_**So...as the theme of the competition will be 90's Boy bands.......It's time for you.....YES YOU! The Readers! You're gonna tell me what you want them to sing during the competition! **_

_**The contestants will be as follows:**_

_**Yao**_

_**Natalia**_

_**Iskandar ( He's the nation of Malaysia):**_

_**Heracles**_

_**Sadiq**_

_**And Francis ( But he's not really a contestant)**_

_**The others not mentioned will be....yes...you got it......JUDGES. Two teachers and two students as judges.....It's sorta scary to have Ivan as a judge....Kiku would be a bit like Paula.....Roderich would make a great Judge....more on him next chapter...and we still have Elizaveta! Oh no!! What are we going to do?! Well.....until next time!!!!**_

_**Review, pretty please? You don't wanna leave Luddikins in the Road Less Taken with crazy people, right?**_


	11. Special Omake 2a

** Special Omake 2a :**

**Team Quiet People + Team Frying Pan: Sing a Song of Distress, A Pocket Full of Strife.**

**Argh-tor's Note: Ignore when I say I try to add in chapters. Once again, no owning Hetalia or American Idol. Or Casey James.**

When Roderich Edelstein was first called to become a judge on American Idol, he was, as usual, his reticent self. He spoke on the phone calmly, as though he was ordering more sprinkles on his sundae. Although that was nearly impossible, seeing as Roderich did not fancy ice cream sundaes.

"_It's not that I don't want to." He said stoically, holding his cell phone in one hand, the other holding a wineglass filled with Gatorade . "It's just...why me? Firstly, I'm not really an American..."_

_The voice on the other hand held a trace of a crackle, roughening the voice on the other line. " No, you don't get it, Mr Edelstein! You've been in the music industry for so long..."_

"_As a music producer." _

"_A child prodigy music producer, sir!"The voice replied, cracking slightly on the word "music"_

_Roderich sigh, feeling that familiar sense of exasperation creeping up on him again." Look, I don't like to broadcast to everybody about the fact that I'm a 17 year old ..."_

_The voice , however, ignored him." Not only that, with your erudite good looks , your age and reputation, we'll be able to raise viewership ! Think about the headlines! "Youth Producer takes on Idol!" You'll be the biggest draw we'll have on the show!"_

_Roderich paused, placing the glass on the wooden table." I just don't feel like capitalising on myself like that..."_

_The voice chuckled." Ah, Mr Edelstein! As it is, the show's all about different talents in different packages! It's reflected in our choices for judges! Firstly, we have Randy Jackson..."_

" _Isn't he Michael Jackson's brother? He was never in the music business."_

"_Then we have Paula Abdul..."_

_Roderich gave a mock gasp ," No Madonna? Good god!"_

" _And then we'll have a foreign producer who's also known as the most handsomest, but also the toughest critic of them all! " The voice concluded. You almost would have thought that he would be doing a victory dance by then._

_The teenager paused, pushing up his glasses. "Look, I'm barely finished on my Masters..."_

" _All the better to become famous now then!"_

_A flicker of irritation began to appear. "Look...Mr...Erm..."_

"_Jones, sir! The name is Theodore F. Jones, at your service! Anything and eveything I can do, I'll do it for you! "_

_Roderich had no idea if he was going to puke with all the toadyism the guy was exhibiting., Then again, the man sounded rather carefree and happy, perhaps he really did mean what he said. Producers were getting more optimistic nowadays. "Yes...Well Mr Jones...I don't really enjoy this idea, I myself am planning to retire from the music industry, though nobody knows it..."_

_The voice over the phone gasped, " Oh , no! Really, Mr Edelstein? You can't leave! I mean...you're really talented in your choices in music! My wife adores you, she listens to the stuff you chose! And she's a big fan of your own music too! "_

_That got his attention, " My own music? She's heard of it ?"_

_The voice on the phone beamed. Well, Roderich couldn't really see it, more of a feeling that the voice was beaming." Trust me, my wife loves everything of yours..." The voice continued, a wistful tone layering on baritone " Sometimes I wonder how we can be together for so long..." before trailing off._

_Feeling a rather long story behind the voice, Roderich decided to continue before the voice began relating tales from The Young and the Restless." Right...to be frank, if you really want a good draw to the show...why not try Simon Cowell? He was a judge from the original Pop Idol and a music executive in the UK. I believe that he will be perfect for the show."_

_The voice seemed to balk at the suggestion." Simon Cowell? You've gotta be kidding me, Mr Edelstein! Cowell scares the living hell out of the contestants! "_

" _Which is why he'll be perfect for American Idol." Roderich calmly replied, sipping some Gatorade from the wineglass. " Think about it, everyone loves drama. And what better drama than a man who dishes out the most caustic, the most meanest criticism of them all? "_

" _But what about the emotions of the contestants!" Wailed the producer on the phone. " They'll be emotionally stricken! "_

" _Well, think about it. " Roderich reached for a pen and a piece of paper. This conversation was rather good inspiration for a new song. " This will unite the audience members watching the show. People will love him, people will hate him. In the end, it'll unite the people of America and all over the world together whether through love or hate. Folks will watch American Idol because of their support for Simon Cowell. Even more would watch the show to find more reason to hate the man. In the end, people will still watch the show even if one of the judges is a mean man."_

_The voice on the other end of the phone was now quiet ," That does seem like a good idea..."_

" _Of course it is." Roderich said, a bit smugly. " I am a man of great ideas..."_

" _Well, okay!" Theodore F. Jones replied, overly happy about the situation." I'm gonna tell my boss later! Thank you, Mr Edelstein!"_

_Roderich , however was not finished." Erm...Jones? One more thing, if I may?"_

_The voice was back, in full happiness, " Yeap, Mr Edelstein! Anything!"_

" _A request, if I may. I want you to tell your boss that it was your idea to get Cowell on the show."_

_Now Jones's voice over the phone squawked in surprise, " Sir! I can't do that! It's your idea, and I'm too honourable for that! It'll go against the justice of the world! The Jones have always been about honour, justice, truth, virtue-" _

" _Stop before you reveal your secret identity as Superman." Roderich raised a hand , forgetting momentarily that he was on the phone. " Look, I really don't want to let everyone know , otherwise they would think that I was planning to continue on with the music producing business. The paparazzi are going to be all over me when they find out about my retirement, but this would give misleading ideas about my career path. So, kid-"_

" _Erm...sir,I do believe I am older than you..."_

" _It doesn't matter! What matters is that its a win win situation. You get the recognition that will be great for your career,and I'll get into my retirement faster." Roderich snapped, gulping down the Gatorade in his wineglass. " I want my exit to be quick and clean, no excitement whatsoever. Will you grant me this, Jones?"_

_The voice gulped, sounding as though he was trying to swallow his fear. " Yes, Mr Edelstein."_

Soon after that, Roderich Edelstein , 18 years old, music prodigy and Masters Degree holder, announced his retirement from the music industry where he was based. Meanwhile, Theodore Jones, aged 35, was acclaimed for being a genius in bringing in Simon Cowell into American Idol. He soon got proposals by other people and became known as a genius director, rising above to the best and brightest of the Hollywood world. He then became a dean in the school at the age of 43 and brought his sons Alfred and Matthew over to study as well.

Roderich could remember the effects of all that when he read that piece of paper outlining their task during the school trip.

* * *

The four members of Roderich's team stared down at the paper, outlining their task . What followed was the same type of quietness that had more or less plagued his team for the past few days.

" So..." said Kiku Honda, who looked apprehensive staring at the piece of paper in his hand.

That was met with a bit of silence as Heracles , Sadiq and Roderich too looked at the paper .

* * *

A bit further away, a much noisier team were staring down at the same piece of paper.

" American Idol, da?"

" Kai wan xiao..."

" Yao, please stop talking in Mandarin..."

" Hmph! Another tribute to American Capitalism!"

" Natalia...Russia stopped being communist ages ago..."

" Communists!"

" Friend Iskandar, Please, we are friends in this. Russia has not been arguing with others for a long time...we would like an alliance, da?"

" As though I'll take any alliance from you, wanker!"

That was a bit of a mistake. Ivan's usually unnerving aura had suddenly reached Special Power: Aura Ominousity 100x ( which can be achieved using X , O ,L1 and the down button on the Playstation 3 control ). Taking the hint, the other students moved slightly away from Iskandar and Ivan while Iskandar, trying to put on a mask of bravado, was failing as the creepy smile on Ivan's face had increased, the ends of both reaching ear to ear. The lazy closing of Ivan's eyes merely added to the terror of Iskandar's being.

" An alliance, Friend Iskandar? " The boy repeated, this time in a voice that was able to render the forest quiet enough. Nary a bird was seen or heard, the wild animals decided that the outside was too dangerous for venturing and the skies darkened ever so slightly.

The trembling Malay stretched out a trembling hand towards the Russian , while the smiling Russian happily gripped it in two hands.

" Wonderful! We're all friends again!" beamed the Russian boy, Special Power: Aura Ominousity 100x dramatically reduced to small pinpricks in the air which tingled once in a while . Yao could only stare at the bigger boy and silently note.

Ivan Braginski: Serving peace with an iron knife.

Speaking of iron knife...

Yao had turned around to see the girl that resembled her brother so much suddenly brandishing a small foldable knife , with intent to go towards the Malay boy, who was now screaming in terror and on the ground, trying to escape. This move to kill the boy however was restrained by her tall Russian brother.

" Natasha! Nyet! " he shouted, doing his best to stop the girl from wriggling too much.

She shouted, trying her best to get out of her brother's grip. " He insulted our family's roots, its honour, and most importantly,_ your_ honour!"

Ivan had suddenly dragged her back, whispering quickly into her ear which made her relax and fold up her knife. She kept it into her shorts, but turned back to the Malay boy, her eyes full of malevolence and hate. "You're lucky that Big Brother is merciful and forgiving, but never forget! Big Brother is always watching you!"

Somehow, Yao had thought that the quote from the George Orwell book had rather matched his mood for the past few days.

"What's this I see?" demanded a voice from behind them. The students jumped and tried to hide evidence of what had just happened as their teacher-in-charge, Ms Elizaveta Hedavary , walked back into the campsite , where she had left it temporarily to do something.

Unanimously, all four students had quickly said the same thing that they had , under her tutelage, learnt to say.

"Nothing, Ms Hedavary."

Ms Hedavary looked at them , studying them strongly before smiling happily and saying, " Well, I hope you kids had fun!" she said, calmly wiping the frying pan she held in her hands clean. The students stared at the frying pan and at the woman cleaning it. Considering the fact that the woman was a Home Economics Teacher, it was rather scary to see her nearly beat up Mr Beilschmidt , the popular Principal's Assistant nearly every day.

And considering what she did to the kid who tried to defy her and her orders in the kitchen...even Ivan shuddered. The Netherland kid in question still screamed in girly terror everytime he saw a frying pan, a trace of long brown curls or even a petal that fell from the fresh flowers that Ms Hedavary usually placed behind her ear or tied on with her ponytail. Which was a bit troublesome considering the fact that his younger sis had brown curls, he took home economics and he was in the gardening club.

Then again, that was another story; best told only during nights with the curtains drawn, a blanket around you and prepared exits to run to the bathroom to prevent peeing on one's self.

In any case, Ms Hedavary was a scary teacher, and there were rumours of her , when not marking papers or teaching practical work in the kitchen, she was always glued to her computer , typing away furiously . Some whispered that she was surfing porn but it didn't explain the typing away furiously part. Yet nobody could deny the fact that Ms Elizaveta was a great teacher. Just not when she was angry and had a frying pan in her hands.

Ms Hedavary was not in a bad mood this time. In fact she seemed downright cheerful. " I believe you all took a look at the next task, yes? " She said, wiping her hands on the apron she had on. " Well, that also means that we have to cooperate with another team to do this task!"

This got the attention of the other kids.

"You're kidding...another team?"

"Da, more friends to talk to!"

"Friends are but an alien concept in our Russian Communists! All we have are comrades!"

Whatever the reaction, the kids were all secretly happy that they were able to see another team instead of the same faces everyday.

* * *

The same could be said for another team.

More specifically though, the teacher was the one eager to have another team with them. He would never admit it, but he missed the chatter of having many kids around him. Despite the fact that he liked his team mates, the fact that two of them hated each other was getting rather tiresome on his withered old soul.

Yes, Mr Roderich Edelstein liked to refer to himself as an old man. It's not a bad thing, really. But he's a bit silly in that way.

In any case, if he was to be completely honest with himself, the thing he really missed was having his friends among him. In his 26 years ( close to 27) , this period of his life was one of the most taxing, but also the best years of his life, with the meeting of so many people and making the most friends than he had ever had. He never really realised it fully until this week. He missed Francis's flowery language and photoshopping, Antonio's worshipping of the tomato and his young charges , young Feliciano's lack of aptitude for numbers...scratch that, he did not really miss was also young Ludwig's steadfast and sensibility, despite the fact that he had a penchant for throwing away things that could easily be reused. He even missed Gilbert and that incessant cheeping of that yellow bird he usually had on his head.

But most of all, he missed Elizaveta , his girlfriend.

In all aspects, Roderich and Elizaveta were two totally different individuals. The refined Roderich liked Beethoven , fine art and read Stephen Hawking . Vivacious Elizaveta was a huge fan of romance novels, loved manga and her current favourite song was Rockstar 101 by Rihanna. Roderich , while frugal, had a liking for wearing Armani suits ( though he also patched them up and wore them till the fell to pieces.) . Elizaveta was largely a t-shirt and jeans gal, but had a closet filled with dresses and outfits that she made in her spare time. While both loved good food, Roderich took years in the kitchen due to his rather anal personality to make sure every piece of food was made with the best , most precise amounts of ingredients and that the presentation was well enough too. Elizaveta, however was more of a 30 minute meal girl, much like Rachel Ray was.

In fact, if it were not for fate arriving in the shape of a silver haired dolt with a yellow fluffy ball of a bird riding his head most of the time, he might not have met her.

* * *

" _Bloop!" said Gilbert as he plopped down next to Roderich in the teacher's lounge. " Roddykins! I missed ya! Did ya miss me too?" He gave a cocky grin, reminiscent of the one Brad Pitt gave in Inglourious Basterds, though it was some time before the movie come out._

_Said Roddykins glared at Gilbert as he grinned and waved a hand, welcoming another familiar face to the table. Spanish Teacher Antonio Carriedo, whose green eyes and white teeth flashed in contrast to his dark skin, made a few female teachers faint in the corner as he gave them a carefree smile. The three of them usually had lunch together in the teacher's lounge, what with Francis, the usual fourth of their group being a student and all. _

"_Ah, today is indeed another happy , glorious day, si, Roderich?" said Antonio, opening his paper bag lunch to reveal a Tupperware with finely made seafood paella as well as a Kling wrapped tomato._

_Gilbert snorted. " Please, I walked past your class at 10.45 just now ,Antonio. You were being pwned by Felici's older brother again. Honestly, you've got to be more strict with that boy."He opened up the fridge to retrieve his lunch , which seemed to be a sandwich from Subway again. Placing the sandwich into the microwave, Gilbert pressed a few buttons and stood in front of it, watching it revolve in the tray again and again._

_Antonio nodded, smiling though his tone was sad. " Si, si...that boy just does not understand the difference between Italian and Spanish...He refuses to learn too...Sometimes, I think you recommended him to take Espanol just so that you can kick him out of your history class, Roderich. Which, now that I think about it...happens to be in the same time period as mine..."_

" _Which , as usual is boring talk, cause we say it all the time!" interjected Gilbert, opening the wrap on his Subway Melt . He took a giant bite out of it and continued talking, " Anneewahye, whee shneed to twalk arbart-"_

" _Say it, do not spray it, Gilbert." Roderich counter-interjected icily, wiping bits of chewed bread and sprayed sauce on his cheek with a lacy handkerchief he had in his pocket. " Swallow and then continue."_

_Gilbert swallowed, then repeated, " Anyway, we need to talk about Friday!" _

_Antonio raised one eyebrow. " What about Friday?" He asked quizzically._

"_Well, my friend from Hungary's moving here!" Gilbert said , taking a swig from the hip flask he usually carried in his lab coat pocket. Screwing the bottle cap back on, he continued. "We gotta show him the sights, give him a jolly good welcome! And you know we give the best jolly good welcomes..."_

"_If you're referring to the last 'jolly good welcome ' we gave to that new teacher from Monaco, do you remember how that actually went?" Roderich asked, pouring out water from the water flask for his traditional soothing tea. "All we did was go to a bar and got roaring drunk . You Antonio sang a song about Merlin the Happy Pig, Gilbert here pretended that he was a giant Gilbird and Francis tried to look down that girl's blouse! That poor teacher was scandalised! She tried to make a run for it! Ladies are actually frightened of us in the bar!"_

" _Aw, psh and posh, Master Rodinstilskin." Gilbert waved a hand lazily. " Besides, my friend's one of the guys! He'll get along with us well enough!" He grinned suddenly, as though there was a hidden secret that only he knew about. _

_Antonio gave another one of his blinding smiles." Well, I am certainly in! And Francis will be fine with it too." Roderich had to shield his eyes from the brightness of the smile and Antonio and now the ruby fires of Gilbert's own eyes as they both looked at him, ready to make him...erm...persuade him to join them._

" _Fine , I will join your party." As both men cheered, Roderich felt the need to add, " But expect actual paying of the drinks this time...and no more singing!"_

_

* * *

_

" _Some boys take a beautiful girl and HI-EEYED HER AWAAY from the rest of the Woo-AR-ROLD..."_

_Roderich tried his best not to wince as he sat at the bar, along with a cheering Antonio, as an already drunk Gilbert had somehow managed to take control of the karaoke machine they had and gone through two verses of " Girls Just Want to Have Fun." _

_They were waiting for the Hungarian Friend that Gilbert said would meet them, yet the minute they stepped a foot into the bar, everybody around the bar shouted, " Gil!" unanimously and started sending the four of them drinks. Francis was now flirting with a Eurasian man his age and Antonio seemed to be happily showing his new friends pictures of Feliciano, Lovino, the tomato plants he had been growing and his pet bull Torres , who he had raised as a calf back in Spain. And Roderich had declined all mugs of beer, preferring to sip daintily from his wineglass._

_He was feeling all forms of impatience. How was it possible that the friend Gilbert said was waiting for them was LATE? No doubt the friend was another version of Gilbert, but opposite in colour wise. He tried to envision a man with orange brown hair, a tan complexion, brown eyes and had a ...well...what was the opposite of a yellow fuzzy bird on his head? This took a bit of thinking. Probably a white and brown bunny or something, he agreed._

" _I want to be the one that WALKS IN THE SUUUUNNNN! CAUSE GIRLS, THEY WANNA HAVE FUN! YEAHY! GUURRLLLS !"_

_He had to remind Gilbert to not sing that song anymore due to the fact that his " creative arrangement" of the song, which included a few off- key parts , some strange emphasis on the different words and his almost want to give the song a country twang to it. _

_If he was to be honest with himself, he thought, Gilbert was actually a rather good singer, if not for his humongous ego getting in the way and making the songs more awesome..._

"_I agree." said a voice behind Roderich, speaking with a hint of wry amusement and a slightly unfamiliar accent. He turned to make eye contact with the speaker._

_He may have denied it, but Roderich always did had an eye for beauty and fine art, and the girl's face was definitely a work of art. Brown curls were long and glossy, at the moment tied back with a kerchief that pulled back most of her hair, revealing a face that held emeralds in its eye sockets, glimmering with intelligence and humour. She had pale skin, though it was creamier than white, and her pale pink lips were set in a gentle smile, showing her teeth. While she was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, she made them seem like the most expensive garments ever made, though the effect was diminished by the off-white apron she wore._

_Before he could clarify exactly what it was the girl agreed with, the girl herself spoke, "I meant no disrespect, good sir, I merely wanted to say that his lordship over there was indeed singing rather much like a cat on a hot tin roof." She said, pointing to the drunk man now proclaiming that, "girls just wanna have fun" when the working day was done._

_Roderich himself had to smile, though it was possible he did so because he was so attracted to the outward frankness of the girl rather than his actual agreement of the statement. "That, unfortunately, is my friend."_

_Green eyes had widened slightly, lips formed to make an o. Roderich knew he had to make her do that gesture again sometime soon. _

" _My most gracious apologies, good sir." She apologized, bowing shortly. "Oh, I must seem terribly queer to you!" She looked flustered, blossoms of red on her cheeks._

_With the graciousness of a gentleman, Roderich bowed back gracefully, his mind churning over the events. We wait for an irresponsible friend of Gilbert's, and instead I find a beautiful lady, just remarkably quaint in her ways. Her face is just so beautiful and charming...I have never seen such wonderful, exquisite, poised, delicate..._

" _Hey, barmaid!" yelled Antonio, who unfortunately had bounced in rather suddenly between the two of them. "Two glasses of Heineken for me and my friend here!" _

_Before Roderich was able to push a grand piano towards Antonio so that it would uncontrollably and without warning fly towards Antonio and crushing the shrieking Spaniard to bits, the barmaid smiled." Coming right up, good sire!" and left._

_Gracious against impolite and crude people too. Mused Roderich. He waited until she had served them both, then turned his attention to her and asked, " You're new here then?"_

_Immediately realising the mistake he had made, Roderich quickly tried to murder his good self inwardly. __**" Good god, I sounded like one of those clichéd bar flies that ogle at young women and say things like, " Aren't you tired carrying those two heavy jugs the whole day through?" and pinching their bottoms as they walk by! " Are you new here then?" I might as well be declaring that I'm a 40 year old pervert who happens to like teasing young female things! I could be that guy on that show where everybody goes " Rod! " when they see me!"**_

_He did not expect the girl to laugh as she went to scoop more ice for another patron. "Well, technically, I don't really work here. I was supposed to be waiting for a friend to come and get me, but unfortunately he was a bit preoccupied . And they wanted someone to take over for a bit so I volunteered my services." She grinned, making the lovely green lights dance in her eyes." I do a bit of work here and there , though I did go to college and do Food and Nutrition...its only for a day, I get some cash for myself and I can do a bit of buying of groceries while I look for real job adverts." _

_Roderich had to smile. She was an ambitious girl who knew what she wanted to do. "In that case, Miss, I wish you all the luck you may need in this world. "_

_Now she really beamed, throwing herself across the bar and giving Roderich a bear hug in gratitude. Though he had to admit, the strange dizziness he was feeling around his head was less to do with the air now being crushed out of his system than the fact that the Pretty Girl had HUGGED him._

_And just as suddenly, the air did leave his system as Gilbert stumbled over to the bar and catching sight of the scene._

" _Ah...methinks young Master Roddykins has a new conquest, eh?" Gilbert slurred as he gave a grin at the couple. Roddy turned to glare at the drunk man and was rewarded with a look of abject terror on Gilbert's face. Ha. Finally ._

_Though Gilbert's look of terror seemed to stem from the girl next to him, not at Roderich. The erudite man frowned and turned to look at the girl, who just seemed to be smiling, though her smile had acquired a touch of eeriness to it...it almost resembled that Russian boy from his history class ._

" _E-Elizaveta?" he spluttered, looking very terrified. " I'm...oh, shit and the gods!" _

" _Well, Master Beilschmidt. Took you that long enough to realize I was here, huh?" the girl continued smiling, but Roderich could just feel waves of terror expulse from Gilbert. In contrast, there seemed to be waves of icy cold anger emitting from the girl beating and smashing up the terror waves from Gilbert, with one particular wave being rather ambitious and shouting, " THIS IS SPARTA!" while pushing a smaller terror wave into a really really deep pit ._

_In any case, Roderich put two and two together , managing to come up with the number he needed and decided to ask. " You must be an ex-girlfriend of Gilbert then, Ms Elizaveta?" he ventured, trying his best to smooth things over the two beings. If the girl was indeed an ex, this would explain why Gilbert was terrified of her. Doubtless he must have paid her a huge unkindness and the girl was back to settle the score. Yet, Gilbert, despite all his transgressions and his huge annoying people factor, was still a friend. And he wasn't really a player with girls either. Truth be told, Gilbert hadn't really been interested in relationships since he started working in the school. So who was she?_

_Both of them stared back at Roderich, the waves of terror and bashing up temporarily forgotten. Then they both started laughing._

" _What's so funny?" the distinguished man tried to hide his humiliation at being laughed at._

_Gilbert then threw a hand over the brunette girl, who was now in hysterics. "Stop laughing so much, E. It's not so bad to be associated with me, pure awesomeness. This girl, Master Roderich, is the Hungarian friend I wanted you guys to meet. Meet Elizaveta ."_

_

* * *

_

His flashback was cut short by the sounds of walking and talking. Team 5 was coming.

* * *

" Us like to move it, move it, us like to move it, move it, us like to move it move it..."

" By the gods sake, stop singing that ridiculous song."

" Why, you jealous that I can sing better than you, Herkie boy?" taunted Sadiq , a little smirk on his face as he pulled his hood on his jacket a little further down his face, keeping part of it in shadow.

" No, I'll just rather eat Kirkland's food, Dickie ."

" How dare you besmirch the great name that is Sadiq!"

" Please , may a giant Moussaka come over here and eat you, than spit you out cause you still taste weird."

Kiku sighed. He knew it was trouble when he found out he was going to be on the same team as them.

It wasn't that he hated both of the contrary, he liked them both equally, considering the fact that both of them had rather interesting personalities. The fact that both of them usually spent their time dissing each other, it was a wonder how he was able to be friends with both of them simultaneously.

Then again, both of them had been rather competitive, trying their best to gain his affection like a child being bribed by divorced parents. One day Heracles had taken his to his favourite spot at the back of the school where cats roamed and Kiku had enjoyed that, until Sadiq had found out about it .

The next day, Sadiq had bought a few parcels wrapped gaily with wrapping paper and had presented them to Kiku, who was sitting next to Heracles before class. Qhen Kiku had inquired of the occasion of the parcels, Sadiq had simply said that he thought that Kiku had deserved them. Opening them, Kiku had found many different cat plushies of different size, shape and brands, from Beanie Babies to giant , white cuddly cats, fluffy and cute. Kiku had been rather troubled by the presents. ( " they're all so beautiful...but where am I going to put them?") but he had clamly accepted them, thanked Sadiq politely and later gave away some of the cat plushies to his friends. Feliciano had the brown cat plushie he had decided to call Kitty and Yao, Kiku's classmate had received a big sized cat that looked a little like Hello Kitty, but with a smirk like mouth.

Many other situations had occurred between the three of them which had led poor Kiku to feel very , very tired over his friendship between both of them. Due to a long story in which both countries would not reveal due to it being rather long and " so much of a story that nobody would believe it", the two students would just not get along with each other . In fact, being between them most of the time was like battling the Hot and Cold, The Yes and the No, the In and The Out , the Up and the Down...

Kiku should really have to stop listening to Katy Perry .

In any case, he wish that all his friends did get along together. He hated conflicts, but his friendship with Heracles and Sadiq was getting on his nerves as the two of them fought as hard as they could to be a better friend than the other. It was a good thing that the other team was coming over, he could use a break from these two teammates and he had missed his friend Yao.

And speaking of which, Team 5 had finally arrived.

* * *

" Roderich! " yelled Elizaveta as she threw her hands around the erudite man, almost knocking his glasses off. " I missed you these past few days!"

Roderich, trying his best to get his systems back on track after the glomp by the overexicitable Hungarian woman. " Thank you, but please, refrain from hugging me in public. The students are watching...and we don't want to seem distracted from our work-"

" None of your sauce with me, young master Roderich" The woman ordered and smashed her lips against his own, kissing him for all it was worth. Roderich tried not to choke at first, but then relaxed and placed his hands against her waist, pulling her closer. It had been 3 days, after all . They never really had been separated for that long before , and Elizaveta had a way of making him forget about the important things sometimes...

Eliza broke from the kiss and rested her nose against his, nuzzling it slightly and asking softly. "Miss me ?"

Roderich had to smile at that, holding her against him tightly with one hand and stroking his girlfriend's curls with the other. " Is that a question?"

A dry cough could be heard slightly and both of them turned , to be greeted by the sight of students staring at them . Kiku was blushing fiercely, while Natalia and Heracles seemed to be in rapture at the sight. Next to her ,Sadiq and Iskandar had their hands against their mouths, trying to restrain the sounds from coming out while their bodies racked with laughter. Yao seemed to be trying his best to look away from the scene and Ivan...Roderich had to gulp. He was smiling, beaming from ear to ear. _Wasn't it a bit __**too**__ eerie for a student to __**smile**__ that way?_

His charming girlfriend, however, was made of much sterner stuff. " Now, what did I say about spying on other people, my duckies?" she demanded, breaking out of the embrace and placing both hands on her hips. " Mind your own business now, and away with you! Go and get more firewood, so that we can get started on the Task that awaits you! Now off!"

There was a collective " aww..." from the students, and Elizaveta gave a smile, before shooing them off.

"It's a wonder how any work gets done here." She said, turning her attention back to her boyfriend. "So , did you cope well without me, Master Roderich?" There was a teasing tone in her voice as she sauntered to the campsite, sitting down on the ground against the tree." No sudden movements from the starfishes or the crabs or the lobsters?"

Roderich gave a slight shudder before suppressing it ." I still don't understand why we had to do this on an island...near a beach , for that matter ."

" Was that why you chose a campsite so far away from the beach area?" asked Elizaveta as she smirked. " I mean, when you were younger and you had that craze watching Korean Soap Operas, you were obsessed with the whole idea of playing a white piano at the sea bank while serenading your love. Don't lie, Roddy. I saw the pictures."

"That was before I realised that there were consequences to that action." Roderich replied , resigned to the fact that his girlfriend still remembered that story.

" Consequence no. 1 being that the seawater ruined the wood of the piano when you were playing and consequence number two that because of the fact that it took hours to get the perfect picture, your piano had seaweed, crabs and starfish clinging on to it. Didn't help that you, due to your insistence for everything to be perfect, had to use your own piano."

He still remembered that day, etched deep in his mind. How the animals just seemed to be attacking the dark wood of the piano, the fact that the legs of the piano had swelled up due to the water and he found tiny crabs and dead fish in the foot pedals.

He still had nightmares, seeing his beloved piano getting attacked by sea creatures...

He felt arms encircle his waist again, and a warm head on his chest, brushing brown curls against his nose. Relaxing again he let Elizaveta stroke his back in a comforting way,she whispering, "Don't worry, I won't let anything get you, neither fish nor...fish..."

Happiness washed over him again, reminding of the first time he had felt that way with the girl.

* * *

_Roderich sighed again, after showing the next candidate out of his home .It was hopeless. He was never going to find a housekeeper , his house was going to be filled with papers and music sheets for the rest of his life, his black coffee was always going to be cold cause he never really found a knack for heating the water hot enough, and he couldn't for the life for him figure out how to fix the cable in the house. He was never going to watch Larry King again!He might accidently eat fish due to his inability to distinguish between chicken and fish when they chopped up the meat! No girl would ever want to live here with this huge mess and-_

_A knock on his door shut Roderich from his thoughts and made him realise that there was someone at the door. Getting himself together, he rose from his table to get to the door. Most probably, it was Gilbert trying to raid his house for apple strudel again. Though he could have assumed that he had learnt from his past lesson when he tried to grab at a pie foil, only for him to trip and land on his back, the pie landing on his face. He would just have to make sure that the maple syrup was kept in the locked part of his refrigerator. _

_He opened the door to reveal the girl from the bar a week before._

" _You!" both of them unanimously before Elizaveta collapsed to giggles. Glancing up at the glasses wearing man, she said, " Please forgive me, Roderich. It's just a shock, seeing you here and all."_

" _I believe it is." He said. Did Gilbert give her this address? For what reason would he do such a thing?_

_She then bent down to look at the piece of paper she had in her hands again. "I'm sorry, but this is Flat 123 B at the Rivera, right?" She said, looking quizzically at the paper. "I got this off the classifieds...I must have the wrong house. Nice to see you again, Roderich! I-"_

" _Wait, " shouted Roderich, as Elizaveta was hurrying off to leave. When she turned around, Roderich responded. " This is the right place. I'm R. Edelstein in the papers...and I'm looking for a housekeeper."_

_

* * *

_

"_So just a few notes you have to know..." Roderich said as he finished giving her the tour of the house. " Number 1. I don't like people touching my piano unless I give permission. Don't worry about the piano room, I like it the way it is and will clean the piano myself. Secondly, I will be out most of the day, so you can use the house facilities, though I don't like anyone to touch my paperwork..."_

_Elizaveta was nodding as he spoke, writing down everything in her notepad._

" _Finally,if you're gonna cook here, can I request that you try not to make dishes with seafood in it? " said Roderich, looking rather dark at the thought of Seafood. _

_This had surprised Elizaveta slightly." Oh...okay...you are allergic to seafood?"_

_After a small pause, he replied, " Yeah, you can say that." _

_The girl smiled, once again." I'll make sure of that, Mr Edelstein."_

" _Please, don't call me that..." said Roderich, politely as ever, trying not to think of the girl in front of him serving him and calling him, " Mr Edelstein." In her light , teasing voice._

" _Alright, then, " Young Master Roderich"?" she said,looking on smilingly._

_Roderich stood up and said, " Do as you wish then, Ms Hedavary...where do you live anyway?"_

_That had startled the girl slightly, " Oh,I 'm staying at Gilbert's place for the time being, but finding a place soon. I'm meeting with the agent for an apartment and I think there are a few places that are looking for roommates..."_

_Roderich stood up and walked off abruptly down the hallway. As Elizaveta tried to figure out if she had offended the man in anyway , the man walked back to her and said, " I just went to check. There's a guest room that hasn't really been used, I don't really have visitors that stay over...you canuse that room. It's more convenient for you and the least I can do for a friend of Gilbert's, fool that he is." _

_Elizaveta was shocked and tried to protest at the idea. " Master Roderich, it's been kind of you enough as it is to offer me the job! I can't accept your kindness! I ...I..."_

_Roderich gave her a few minutes to calm down. Then said, in a sentence that finalized the deal. " Start tomorrow. You can move your stuff in my tomorrow." _

_Elizaveta agreed, he showed her out of the house and after accepting her thanks once again with aloof nod, he went back to his piano room, closed the door and played Beethoven's Ode to Joy for the next 5 hours._

_

* * *

_

His thoughts were once again broken by the sounds of the students making noise around him. Snapping out of his contemplative mode and into his " Let's Bust Up Children Cause They're Making Noise" Mode. " Silence!" He snapped, and the students all went quiet , having been used to their exasperated teacher. Except for Sadiq, who did not usually have history for his lessons, and so was more confident about

" Welcome to today's Council!" Announced Sadiq as he gave a charming grin while sitting around the circle that were the combined team of Team Quiet People and Team Frying Pan.

The two teachers had looked at the older student questioningly before Sadiq himself grinned sheepishly and said, " Sorry, I meant to let you guys start..."

" That's all right." Roderich said, now going from Roderich to Mr Edelstein mode. " So, students, we have a task to become American Idol...In this case, Ubin Idol..."

As the author did not want to bore you with all the silly details ( let's just say that the conversation halfway digressed to a discussion about washing detergent and which ones were the best. Even I had no idea how it got to that.), she thus would skip the conversation and go straight to the details.

It was decided that since there were two teams and nine people, there would be five people becoming the contestants and four judges, with Kiku and Ivan taking turns to host and judge and the other two being Mr Edelstein and Ms Hedavary. This caused a bit of an uproar as some of the other students were not in agreement of the choice of the student judges. Ivan solved the problem by smiling at the dissentients until they all cowered and started to pray out loud for mercy. ( Which was ironic, cause Ivan did , in essence mean something involving mercy.)

All five contestants would have to sing something for the auditions that would be of their choice and a compulsory singing of a song based on the theme chosen by the judges. The judges would give their critiques and choose two of their favourite choices. The final two would have to battle it out via a showdown which would involve something which the judges would decide on.

Pretty much like the original Idol, huh?

Of course, there were always some drawbacks...

" We have to SING?" shouted Iskandar. " I'm no singer! I'm a rapper!"

" Well, in that case, stop shouting and go to the corner to rap or something!"snapped Mr Edelstein." We got Idol, you're doing Idol."

Ms Hedavary chuckled . " It won't be so bad, students. Think of it as practice..."

The rest of the students groaned as they ventured to try and do something for their auditions. They were given at least 2 hours to and prepare what they would want to perform for their auditions .

Meanwhile, the judges , having been called to serve, began to prepare for their roles...

" I would like to thank you teachers for offering the role to me, even though I am unworthy of such an important job." Bowed Kiku as he met his fellow judges." I hope to learn from the three of you ! Please teach me all that you can!"

Ms Hedavary was delighted. " EE! A real Japanese boy! How absolutely kawaii!"

" Does this mean that they will be like Paula and Kara?" inquired Ivan as he sat down, How extremely nice! I always wanted to be Ellen DeGeneres myself!"

" Wait, does this mean I have to be one of the other two judges?" Exclaimed Mr Edelstein.

" Well, Mr Edelstein, you can always be Simon . I don't think you can pull Randy off anyway." The other teacher mischievously replied.

Roderich Edelstein inwardly groaned. After getting Simon Cowell to replace him, it seemed as though now he would have to take his place instead. How tragically ironic.

* * *

" We should get an American idol guest to guest star in our results show..." muttered Kiku , as he sat down , next to Mr Edelstein, Ms Hedavary, and Ivan -senpai. When the rest of the judges turned to look at him, he blushed under the scrutiny of their glances. " I mean...it's what the other shows would have on their shows...like a guest mentor and a performer..."

There was only silence to that suggestion. Kiku, for a long while, had only been seen as a follower , and had never really taken charge like that. Clearly, he was coming out of his shell , which was a god thing.

When they continued to stare at him even further, Kiku blushed a deeper red. " I mean no disrespect to both sensei and Ivan Senpai, forgive my intrusiveness..."

" You know, Roderich." That was Ms Hedavary now. " Young Honda has a good idea. If we want to make the show as good as the original, we got to have something that can bring in the audience..." Kiku shot a grateful look at Ms Hedavary, who smiled to reassure him. If Ms Hedavary agreed with the plan, Mr Edelstein would be okay with it...right? He turned to look at the older man, who seemed to be pondering over the idea. Ivan himself seemed to be quite happy. Then again, Ivan often had the same expression of happiness on his face.

Mr Edelstein had the same look of scrutiny on his face before he nodded briskly and said, " Yes, that would be a good idea. " Writing it down on his piece of paper, he then pushed his glasses back up his nose and looked back at his fellow judges. " But exactly who? Like you said, we got to show somebody that can bring in the audience, and I do not believe that any one of us can be good enough to bring in that much attention."

All four of them sat there, quietly in thought.

Suddenly Ivan stood up, the same smile on his mouth, but with a purple glint of insanity now swirling in his eyes when he had a good idea.

" I have a plan!" he said and took the video camera, despite the fact that nobody had designated an official video cameraman for the show. Grabbing some peanuts as well, he shouted, " I'll be back soon! Don't start this without me, da?"

In the wake of his running, he had left three judges all staring back t his running back. Neither one of the three of them could say a word. Finally Ms Hedavary broke the silence. " So...back to the auditions..."

* * *

The audition-eers were happily preparing stuff in what they were going to sing.

Unfortunately, this had already brought up more than a few conflicts.

" Herkie boy!" taunted Sadiq as he surveyed the brunette boy once again, as though he had not been doing it for the past 1000 and counting more days that they had known each other. " You worried that your favourite " Older brother " would trump against you once again in a competition?"

Heracles , who had dozed off for a short while( they gave him time to do stuff and he just fell asleep . That was Herkie boy, all right. Sorry, I meant Heracles. You have to admit, its kinda catchy) replied, " May the great gods know this...I want to make my " older" brother suffer. Can you please throw him into the great volcano and disfigure him so that he has no choice but to wear a mask for the rest of his life and never get any girlfriends OR boyfriends..."

" Okay..enough...I get it, I'm hideously ugly..." deadpanned Sadiq. " But guess what? Opression from society is what created the X-Men!"

"...You stole that from 30 Rock...I cannot believe that you would actually steal that..."

Meanwhile, another conflict had occurred, but this time , one of the parties did not even know that he was in a conflict.

This was , of course the conflict between Natalia, Iskandar and surprisingly , Yao.

Now this may have come as a surprise to many , as Yao, to be frank , had been one of the most conservative and rather quiet members of the team . Sure, he was rather suspicious of the foreign kids, and had been talking only in Chinese to those who understood Chinese or, if he even did speak in English, only to the other Asian Kids. Yet, he never really did cause that much trouble to anyone else, and for the past few days actually got along pretty okay with his team mates, speaking to them in English when there was need.

This was a huge improvement in Yao's temperament and may or may not have stemmed from the tall, giant Russian lad that everyone had known as Ivan, who was friendly and had a rather hippie like stance towards life (" Let's us all be friends! Peace on earth! Become one with Mother Earth ...and Russia! Drink Vodka!") The tall Russian may had been the cause of many people's nightmares ( specifically the three cousins from the Baltic states and maybe some others) , and Yao was indeed suspicious of this gwailo's friendly stance to EVERYONE.

However, the gwailo did have his good points. He was a huge self conscious lover of the environment. He liked Pandas ( Or rather, dressing up like pandas. But Yao would only find that out later). He admired the boy's artwork during the Arts Festival once. He grew sunflowers. He helped the school cleaning auntie with the plumbing of the taps once. ( Though for some reason, the sight of Ivan holding a bit of pipe in his hands had caused some to scream and run away in the opposite direction.) He had a shy smile. He had pretty purple eyes...

Okay, so what if he had a small tentative crush on Ivan?

No one knew about that small, tentative crush on Ivan!

It was imperative that you as part the audience, do not tell anyone about his small , tentative crush on Ivan!

( Ivan had, at that point of the story sneezed. Oops. Time to get back to relating the story.)

While this unusual lax in the Chinese boy's efforts to talk to his western teammates was welcome, however, there was one person who had viewed his actions with suspicion. This person had attributed this act somehow to one other member of the team, who was in her eyes so wonderful that he could make someone like Yao be more sociable.

And for that, Yao had to be watched closely, and hated.

As of the moment, Yao had not known that he was an object of such a vendetta, ( it was a vendetta in Natalia's eyes!)

The other party involved in the conflict, to be frank, wasn't really much of anyone in a conflict.-

Iskandar bin Zainuddin, 18 years old, chuckled rather smarmily , as much as he could.

He was just suspicious of the Crazy knife Russian lady and the Chinese boy.

* * *

" So, if we get each singer to do this theme, I believe that it will be a rather popular choice." Said Kiku, circling a word on his proposal and addressing one of the two teachers with a a quiet sort of confidence,which he had never really had before. Mr Edelstein seemed to be trying to psyche himself out and was playing a small mini toy piano , much like Scroader's .

He knew that this theme would be a rather popular one. After all, it manipulated the feelings of so many females and males all over the world, and thus, it would be considered appropriate . But of course, it would be up to the decision of the older judges and Mr Edelstein and Ms Hedavary would have to make the final agreement. And of course, the idea was not exactly a popular one, as it had been a long time since anyone had used that theme, it wasn't a good idea after all, oh god, he was more or less about to embarrass himself once again! Why was he so silly as to think that his idea was worthy of the project! Argh! What a disgrace he would be to his family! He might just have to commit seppuku-

" That's a great idea, Kiku!" exclaimed Ms Hedavary.

Wait. What?

" Excuse me, Hedavary sensei?" he said, momentarily calling the female teacher by the Japanese honorific for teacher instead of the English address of Ms., shocked that anyone would actually agree that his ideas were actually good.

The tall brunette lady wrinkled her nose in mock disgust. " Sensei? It sounds weird being called that... though I have to admit, its great being treated like a Japanese teacher..." She suddenly grabbed hold of both his wrists and looked at Kiku straight into his eyes. He had to flinch , those green eyes were looking at him _very earnestly_. "It's not possible ...it's a total manipulation tactic of all the males and females everywhere...especially the girls..." she muttered to herself before addressing him again, this time almost shaking with fervent excitement. " You're a secret otaku too, aren't you?"

Now Kiku had to gape.

" I knew it!" she whispered happily as her eyes began to fill with mirth. " The fact that you know how to get people to vote shows that you know how flags are triggered or what the flags are or even what trigger a flag even means!"She let go of the Asian boy's hands, her eyes still shining. The Asian boy was blushing, not because of the fact that Ms Hedavary had found out his secret, but more because of the fact that she knew what " trigger a flag" meant.

"Ms Hedavary, I .."

She broke through , " My god, do you know what this means?" she said , practically bouncing in her seat. " That means that you too know how to manipulate people! Especially the feelings of all those fangirls and fanboys everywhere!"

Okay, now she was getting too excited for her own good.

" You've got a huge gift, you know, Kiku?" She said, looking straight into his eyes. "We all know that people who watch anime and read manga are the ones who are most able to know what a person desires! And you know what that means?" Tears were actually overflowing from her eyes. " You can be a master manipulator of people! Tell me, Honda. What are you planning to do in the future?"

Kiku , who was trying to understand where she was going with her train of thought, was silent for awhile, then said, " Well...I've always wanted to be a manga artist..."

This had Ms Hedavary practically hugging him and demanding, " Shounen or shoujo?"Before Kiku could reply, however, the teacher had went from " practically hugging " to " squeezing the life out of him." This had , of course, nearly led Kiku to have a coronary, more due to the fact he had never had a real hug from a girl outside of his family before...Of course, Feliciano-kun had tried to hug him once, but after screaming in girly terror ( and causing poor Feliciano's ears to nearly get destroyed), Kiku had tried to get him to take responsibility.

" No matter!" she said, finally releasing the boy. " Kiku –kun...can I call you that?" The boy nodded , still in catatonic shock over the extreme hug he had. " You're one of the most talented students i have ever had. But you're so modest you don't even see it! And you have all these great ideas, but you don't come out and say it out , cause you're afraid of how people would react!" she said, looking rather disappointed. " So, I want you to do a special assignment for me."

Kiku, who was beginning to feel spasms of panic in his mind , felt the alarm bells ringing loudly .Still he ventured. " Yes?"

" For the next few days, I want you to try and put forth your ideals to your peers and your seniors." Said Ms Hedavary seriously." Use whatever you need to do, the point is, you need to put forth your ideas in a polite but firm manner. Instead of focusing what other people want, why not try doing something which you would want and try to get people to get used to it? Can you try that at least ? We'll talk about your progress by the end of the week."

Kiku had to nod. What else could he do?

* * *

"I'm back!" yelled Ivan as he seemed to be carrying a huge bundle over his shoulder, running back into the clearing that was Team Four's campsite. The others all stared at him and at the bundle, which...was it their imagination? Was the bundle actually speaking French?

" Exactly what is this commotion? " snapped Roderich as he walked straight to the Russian boy. Ivan however did not seem to be frightened in the face of discipline and extreme exasperation, and placed the bundle on the ground, who seemed to be a motionless young man, evidently unconscious, but muttering in French , possibly talking in his sleep. Ivan then addressed his teacher with such a beaming a beaming smile that little children around the area got rather jealous and went off pouting, unhappy that a 18 year old teenager had stolen their thunder of adorableness.

" Mr Edelstein! Remember how we said we needed to get a celebrity guest to help our show? Well, I was walking in the forest looking and I found this man! Doesn't he look familiar , Mr Edelstein ?"

Now that Roderich could get a better look at the unconscious man, he did recognise the blonde curly hair and the slightly stubbly chin. In fact, he could bet that the young man , when he had his eyes open, had orbs of a bright azure. If he wasn't wrong, this man was in fact-

" This is...Casey Jones! This is wonderful, we have got a celebrity guest here!"

All the students and the two teachers stared down at the unconscious being on the ground, who was now stirring from his unconsciousness and muttering, " Merde.".Only Kiku was able to open his mouth and quietly point out something that was rather obvious...

" Erm...Ivan- senpai...I believe that man you have got is actually Francis. Like Francis Bonnefoy?"

And indeed , it was the very same Francis , who had now opened up his eyes and was sitting up frantically. With his mouth open in shock, the young man made a few strangled noises, before all that he wanted to say came jumbled out in one long yell.

"WHYAMIHERE?"

" Dude, that sure sounds like Francis..." muttered Iskandar.

" Douche, that's because he IS Francis!" retorted Sadiq.

Ivan was still beaming. " I was just walking about and I saw Friend Ludwig ! As we were conversing, Casey James walked over singing and I kindly invited him to be our celebrity mentor! He accepted , so I carried him here! We're now really great friends!" He had knelt down next to Francis and had also thrown an arm around him shoulder, making the young man begin to tremble, something that nobody had ever really seen Francis ever do.

Roderich and Elizaveta had , the whole time, looked down on Francis, both still in a bit of a speechless phase . The female teacher turned to the male teacher and whispered. " Shouldn't we do something?"

Roderich whispered back, " What identity the young man chooses to assume is none of my business. Francis Bonnefoy one day , Casey James the next...as long as he remembers to return me the 10 bucks he still owes me, he can be whoever he wants."

" You're still pissed cause he borrowed 10 bucks from you, Roddy? Tsk."

He looked back towards her primly. " It is not my fault the young man is a careless oaf who insists on borrowing money from me..."

" Erm...Casey James...is that you? " Now Heracles had come out of his slumber to peek at the man. " Weren't you in Idol? And why are you dressed like this French guy I know..."

" I'm not Casey James! I'm Francis! Braginski kidnapped me when I was doing my usual "skipping in the woods much like Little Red Riding Hood " thing I do everyday! I'm Francis! Francis!"

"Francis ja nai, Casey James, da?" Now all the students turned to look at Ivan in shock ( Except for Natalia, she was looking on at him in fervent adoration and worship.), ignoring the French man who had now fainted again due to the amount of stress attacking his face and giving him wrinkles.

" Oh god! That's Japanese!"

" Where did he learn Japanese? Why on earth would he of all people learn Japanese!"

" My big brother is a genius!" Natalia yelled, running to clutch Ivan's arm.

_It can't be..._thought Kiku. _How is it possible that Ivan watches Gintama? Ivan? Gintama?Oh , the fabric of the universe is unravelling, right? I need Haruhi Suzumiya here, NOW! Please don't tell me he wants to be a long haired man who own s a pet bird called Elizabeth? Am I the only one being sane here! Argh! I'm turning into Shinpachi! The power of Shinpachi's glasses are attacking me!_

Of course, none of that was actually said out loud. Kiku was just silently watching the procession while the entire thing was still ongoing, his face expressionless and calm. There were just some things that can't be said, even if it was your mind voice yelling out.

* * *

After a 15 minute talk to Ivan for kidnapping people by Roderich and Elizaveta managing to revive Francis ( she just whispered in his ear that Moulin Rouge had opened in Singapore and were looking for him to be one of the main dancers) , the preparations for Idol had gone back on . Francis had agreed to be a celebrity mentor and sing two songs for the results show as a favour to Roderich for borrowing the 10 dollars. ( He still wanted to money back, don't get him wrong. But he figured he could milk him for everything he had for the moment. )

Though there was a question on whether Francis's team would be worried about him.

:" Ah, there is no trouble about that at all." Said Francis, waving a hand lazily. " As it is, I am considered the heart and soul of the team. As soon as they find out I am missing, they would do whatever it takes to find me! And as I am too tired to venture back , I shall simply sit and wait for them to come and find me! "

* * *

Meanwhile...

" Hasn't anyone wondered where Francis went off to?" asked Leona, looking around at her team mates.

The rest of the team are silent.

Then Alfred looks down on his board and yells, " Ooh! I'm buying Parkway Avenue!"

" Not a chance, bloody tosser!" Arthur snaps. " I got Mayfair! You can't take Parkway if I got Mayfair!"

" Heraherahera!" says Principal Vargas. " I'm in jail! My doggie's in jail!"

"Ooh!I'm passing GO! " squeals Leona. " Give me 200!"

* * *

In any case, the auditions were about to start, and each student were , in many cases, more or less bored. After all, if it was confirmed that you were going to be in the top five and none of the kids were aiming to make singing as their career, there wasn't really much incentive.

That was until Mr Edelstein and Ms Hedavary pulled out a twist. If the kids were able to do the task very well, all of them would be treated for a lunch by the two teachers ( Roderich had opened his mouth to protest at the idea of wasting money in such a frivolous manner, but Elizaveta had then shoved a piece of chocolate into his mouth .) and the top two would get special prizes by both teachers.

This interested the students and soon, the five students had began to do their very best to sing their hearts out. One of the kids had actually began to do some moves for the song he was performing for the audition. Well, considering the fact that the song he was singing was a rap, it was rather questionable as to what kinda of dance he was doing to that song.

This had also fuelled the two conflicts that we have just examined, the first between Sadiq and Heracles, the second between the antagonistic Natalia, the oblivious Yao and the rather redundant Iskandar.

As the feuds between the students had been ongoing, the Idol provided them with a platform to stage their fight . The fact that the objects of the contestants desires were in the judging panel became even more imperative for them to perform well and flamed the fires that were their passions.

Francis had , in the meanwhile been allowed to take a break and help with the filming /hosting of the show whenever possible. He had even offered to help photoshop their backgrounds of the individual contestant to make it more " romantic". All had declined his help.

* * *

" _Don't go breaking my heart.." Elizaveta sang as she started to hang the laundry. " I couldn't if I tried..."_

_It was just such a happy thing, being in a kitchen and cleaning, with the bright sun streaming in from the kitchen window and fresh cookies baking in the oven . She just felt so right being in the world today. Listening to the radio made her happy, and she then started to sing along with the lyrics when a particular favourite of hers came up on the radio. She had squealed while in the middle of hanging the bed sheets and was now dancing and singing around the kitchen, bed sheets now tied around the body much like a dress . It was a good thing Master Roderich was still playing the piano in the piano room, he usually took hours when he was in there, and she did not want to let him see her in such a ridiculous sight._

_It wasn't as though she had to tell her employer that she had a thing for being spun around in a ball gown while singing a duet with the man of her dreams. _

_Nope, there were some things she just couldn't tell him._

_Though she had to admit that Roderich was a rather nice boss, despite the fact that he had a tendency to leave sheet music around the house ( she found a couple of them in the bathroom, wasn't that kinda cute?), liked black coffee without anything else, but would bake a mean apple strudel that was strewn with cinnamon and sugar, and fell asleep at different parts of the house because of his tendency to overwork himself. ( Elizaveta found him once collapsed on top of the keys of his grand piano, breathing heavily and eyes closed while finger still playing on the keys.)_

_The man also had an inexplicable fear against fish and nearly all forms of seafood too. Most strange._

_Yet, the man was kind. Elizaveta had often seen him assisting the old women in the complex, helping them carry their groceries while the old women swooned at the handsome young man at their mercy. Despite his stiff appearance, he gruffly helped his students, including young Feliciano in Mathematics, even though the kid was a bit muddleheaded and fluffy in mind and Roderich was a History teacher, not a Math teacher. Elizaveta had also secretly seen him once trying to wash dishes on her day off, though he had absolutely no idea on the difference between a sponge and steel wool and had broken two of his dishes while doing them. He was also rather willing to share stuff with Elizaveta, including the wireless connection they both shared, and Elizaveta was able to work on a few yaoi fanfic as well as find loads of scanlations of yaoi comics. _

_She turned around shortly at the bridge of the song and started to sing at the top of her voice, now feeling so much in the moment she was not aware of her surroundings." When I was down...I was your clown...hoohoo...and nobody knows it, nobody knows...it."_

_A soft cough interrupted her singing and she turned around, only to be confronted with her Employer looking at her with an unreadable expression on her face. Elizaveta gasped, realised what she was wearing, and quickly tried to tear it off her . Instead, she tripped and fell over, with only Roderich to break her fall. They both tumbled to the ground._

_She tried to apologize to him, but for a minute, Roderich just looked at her with an inscrutable glance at her. Then he got on , offered a hand to help her up and when she took it and stood up. Before she could say another word, he simply said, " I need some laundry taken to the dry cleaners. Please do that and also put the cookies in the jar once they are baked. Save some for afternoon snacks."_

_Then he left._

_While Elizaveta was thanking the stars that she did not get fired or reprimanded for her actions, a now red-faced Roderich was in his room, staring into blank space while he replayed the scene of her twirling around in that bedsheet and singing. Who knew she had a beautiful singing voice? And was it just him, or did his imagination just added himself into the scene, holding her by the waist and waltzing with her ?_

_

* * *

_

Once again, Roderich's thoughts were interrupted while staring at the beautiful girl next to him that had captured his heart . The show had started and they were now welcoming the first auditioneer.

**Argh-tor's notes: Some parts are parodies of Gintama, especially Katsura's famous line.**

**This is only part One of the special Omake...part 2 will be out soon.**

**Review, please? Casey James implores you to!**

**Casey James: I'm Francis!**

**Argh-tor: Only when you return the 10 bucks you owe Roddy.**


End file.
